Dragon Warriors: Copper :Book 3:
by Kouzai
Summary: After loosing the Battle of Ethon, the Warriors head north towards the Province of Asardaea. Their goal: the City of Malatrion and in it, the Metallic Dragon, Aes of Copper.  With Supri Fothisevi close on their tail, can the Warriors find Aes on time?
1. Table of Contents

Dragon Warriors

Book Three

Copper

Prologue: Brass

Chapter 1: Angova Village, An Old Friend Returns

Chapter 2: Heroes at the Dragon Claw Inn

Chapter 3: The Road to Malatrion

Chapter 4: The Fortress City of Malatrion

Chapter 5: Lady Cecil of Malatrion

Chapter 6: Aes of Copper

Chapter 7: The Most Powerful Type of Magic

Chapter 8: The Truth About Cecil

Chapter 9: Supri Fothisevi

Chapter 10: Celebration, Heroes of Asardea

Chapter 11: Tenebrae's Plan

Chapter 12: Drakhart's Enemy

Chapter 13: The Gifts Of A God

Chapter 14: Soul, Mind and Body

Chapter 15: Revelations

Chapter 16: The Boat to Lyrianova

Epilogue: Tenebrae's Return


	2. Prologue  Brass

Prologue: Brass

Long ago, before man first crawled from the primordial ooze, dragons ruled the Earth. They were the conquerors. They were the destroyers, and the creators. Warring amongst only themselves, and even then they fought rarely. It was a time of peace; the odd struggle between Dragons would push up mountains or create craters that would soon fill up with rainwater. In the hundreds of millennia that the Dragons were in control, they shaped the Earth into what it was. They performed miracles beyond that of any imagination, and even when the first man encountered them for the first time, they were so great that humans revered them as gods. Architecture, structures, statues and even religions were built around the Dragons and their benevolence. Parties were thrown and held in their honors; people gave offerings, begging Dragons for their blessings and protection. However, there were five Dragons who were revered above the rest. They were the creators of the creators, the gods above the gods, the metallic Dragons. Orichalum of Brass, Aes of Copper, Aeramen of Bronze, Argentum of Silver, and their leader, Aurum of Gold, these dragons each ruled from the five "holy places". One located in each country on The Continent. These dragons were looked too when heroes needed to be trained and when divine intervention was needed. Benevolent as they were, the Dragons agreed without thought of gain or power.

The humans and Dragons bonded over the centuries, growing closer with each other. Eventually, King Aurum had a dream, in which he foresaw the future. The dream told him of a day when the Dragons and humans would need to unite together to fight a monstrous enemy. Fearing for the worst, Aurum prepared for the worst. He told the other Metallic Dragons of his dream, they too agreed that they would need to prepare for this danger were it to come soon; all of them agreeing that they could trust the humans with their deepest, darkest secrets. So the Dragons decided to choose five humans who would be the protectors of both humans and Dragons. These five humans became the first five Dragon Warriors. A group of five humans-who are replaced every fifty years-chosen from a handful of candidates-all whom are picked specially and tested repeatedly by the Metallic Dragons-became known as heroes throughout The Continent, they were hired by kings, lords, nobles and Generals everywhere to help resolve conflicts and disputes. Even the Dragons called on them for help. What made them special above all other warriors and soldiers was that they were each given a Dragon of their own. Not as pets. But as companions, friends, and even at sometimes confidants. The fact that Dragons and humans could fight together, and trust their lives with each other was-as the human and Dragon elders believed-a show to the great testament of the bonds shared by humans and Dragons for years. They believed this show would deepen the bond further. And for a long time, they were right.

This cycle of helping each other continued for years. The Dragons helped the humans with their troubles, and the humans would help the Dragons by protecting them from Evil and feeding them offerings of livestock. However, the balance was soon disrupted, when a young Dragon named Tenebrae felt that the Dragons were being abused and used by humans. He saw the humans as overlords and enslavers, who used the Dragons for their mysteries and powers, and expected that only a few cattle would repay the debt. Enraged, Tenebrae began to charge human sacrifices for his help. When the people soon agreed-too desperate for help to see the wrong in their actions-Tenebrae knew he could go further. And began demanding gold as well as human sacrifices, which he would devour in front of the people. Tenebrae even began demanding royalty to hand over their Kingdoms and their Crowns. When the Dragons and the Warriors heard about this injustice, they knew it was time for an intervention. They entered Tenebrae's domain in the Swamps of Altimara, and confronted him. Warning him to stop his vile actions or they would have to take protective measures and kill Tenebrae. Tenebrae laughed in their faces, but agreed to stop. The Warriors and Metallic Dragons took his word and left without a second thought. They soon learned that was a mistake, when many years later, Tenebrae had attacked Aldamora, as well as the surrounding countries. He led an army of Black Dragons, similar to himself, all of them just as demonic and twisted in their goals and ambitions as their leader. The Warriors and the Dragons knew their refusal to kill a brethren and let him off with a warning instead was a mistake which they had come to solely regret as the realized the consequences. However, Aurum reassured them, telling them it was not the time to dwell on the past, but to look to the present and prepare for the future. He reminded the Warriors and his brethren that this was the reason the Warriors were founded in the first place, and that he, as well as the Warriors, would and must do everything they could to protect the world from Tenebrae's evil designs.

Relieved and in agreement, the Warriors rallied the people and the dragons to battle. Relaying Aurum's inspiring words to both sides. As the combined forces headed into the battlefield, ready to take on Tenebrae's army. The two armies clashed in many battles. For a long time it seemed the outcome would be matched, until Tenebrae's army suddenly seemed to grow in size and strength. Besting all the humans and dragons. Many lives were being lost as the battles dragged on, and the morale of the soldiers seemed to lower as the body count rose. Tenebrae took the time between battles to continue to provide more miracles, for greater and more inhumane costs each time. Aurum knew that both dragons and humans could loose no more. The war had to end. Aurum decided to confront Tenebrae himself, asking for the other Metallic Dragons to step down. However, the Warriors refused to stand aside, and therefore asked to fight beside Aurum. Aurum, though reluctant, agreed to their request. He believed they had the power to fight against the oppressive Tenebrae and his twisted army and win. As Aurum and the Warriors reached Tenebrae, he laughed. Calling their cause futile and pathetic. The Warriors became enraged by the insults, but were stopped from attacking Tenebrae by Aurum. The ground shook violently as the two side fought to the death, and in the end, both sides lost. Though Tenebrae was killed and defeated, the Warriors also lay dead in the carnage. Aurum was the only one who walked away from the fight.

After the battle was over, and Tenebrae's army conceited their defeat and begged for Aurum's mercy-which they never got and instead were imprisoned inside of the Black Spire Mountains for eternity-Aurum spoke to both humans and dragons, hoping to give their hope back. Telling him he would choose new Warriors, just like they had for the many millennia that preceded this one. However, these plans were put to a halt, when the King of Altimara, King Rego started hunting dragons, and encouraged his court to do the same. Aurum, confronted to King to find out why he was doing this. This was when Aurum learned Tenebrae's darkest secret, one he took to the grave. Before death, Tenebrae performed a miracle for the King, giving him the son he always wanted. But in return Tenebrae asked for the queen's body as a human sacrifice once the child was born. The King refused the offer, but the queen, Queen Lijad, saw benevolence in the dragon's intentions and believed that he asked for the Queens life in return for another life.

The Queen happily accepted the offer, against the King's wishes. Eventually the Queen was executed as a sacrifice and the King was left alone with his only son. Tenebrae devoured the Queen in front of the King and his court and quickly left the town to continue his war. The King disgusted by Tenebrae's cruelty and depressed at the loss of his wife, vowed revenge on all dragons. The King had his infant son killed, because looking at the child reminded him of his lost wife and Tenebrae's wicked grin as he devoured her. Aurum, touched by the King's story offered to help in any way he could, even if it meant giving up his own life to resurrect the Queen and the King's son. Aurum knew it was risky, but it would mean saving his people as well. The King thought short on this offer and rejected, refusing to see the good in Aurum's deal. Aurum was then ordered to leave before he was killed; Aurum did so, telling the King that if he attacked the dragons, he would regret it. The King ignored Aurum's words and continued his slaughter of dragons. Aurum began to rally the dragons not too long after, but not to attack. He was sending the dragons into hiding. Aurum knew that not all humans were evil, but he knew as Rego extended his rule and spread word of his hardships suffered by Tenebrae across The Continent, things would become increasingly unsafe for the dragons. Aurum told the Dragon's to hide-by breed-in designate areas that would suit them, while he and the other Metallic Dragons each went to sleep inside of the five holy places within each country on The Continent. Though not before placing five dragon eggs inside of a Mount Pinnacle. They knew from a vision of Aurum's that the people who found these eggs would become the next Dragon Warriors. They hoped that these new Warriors would bring peace and prosperity between humans and dragons once more.

Many years have passed since the eggs were hidden, and hope had finally reached the world. A group of five children-Kanaahn Saatus, Arial Gainsborough, Shooter Maxim, Arkas Nazzer and Drakhart Ghast-from the small village of Küla discovered the eggs, and shortly after, embarked on a quest to Ottogard, and eventually to the ancient dragon city of Xiar in order to find the location of the five Metallic Dragons and become the next Dragon Warriors. Throughout their travels they faced many hardships, from losing a member of their group, to sickness, but no matter what they persevered. These five children met new friends along their way, and bridged tighter bonds between the existing relationships they had. The group managed to build a reputation for themselves, through fighting off the king's army and defending the Daron owned city of Xiar and winning. Quickly after fighting off the king and his army at Xiar, the new Warriors headed to the southern mountains below the ancient city and found the location of Altimara's Dragon Masters, Yu and Zu, as well as meeting two members of the ancient and legendary Tsuru Clan. Armed with new knowledge of the location of Orichalum-provided by Yu and Zu-the five kids, along with their new friends, two Daron Dragon Masters Kyeit Karaglen and Cecil Wynn, were en-route towards the city of Ethon in the eastern country of Estion. Their hopes high from their previous victories, and from the promise of good times and hope ahead, the kids travel towards the border of the country they once considered to be the only one they would ever see.

As they passed through the border and into the country of Ethon, the group learned and discovered many new things. They had seen trees for the first times in their lives, and had even discovered the Green Dragon Clan and met Djall's parents. After being honored by the Green Dragon Clan, the group continued on to the village of Romontya, a small but beautiful town in the southeast of Estion. Once there, the group spent the night at an inn owned by a friendly man named Rort. However, their stay was not to be a happy one, as it was cut short from an attack by two mysterious hooded figures. After they and their dragons lay siege to the town, Kanaahn finally locked one of them in combat, but soon learned he was no match, for the figures had strength and speed Kanaahn could never hope to possess. Sore about his defeat—but with the village saved—the group ventured on, however, a new loss soon hit them. Shortly after leaving Romontya, the group received word from Valence, and came to believe that Shooter had died while out on a midnight flight with Risasi, making Kanaahn sorer about his loss, and also a bit more curious as to why the figures chose to fight him of all people. Kanaahn soon found out as he dreampt of his mother and father, dying to save his life at the hands of the hooded figures, known as the Kothar. Half dragon, half human hybrids, which were the result of dark magic gone wrong, and now the lapdogs to Tenebrae and his comrades. Learning this—this mixed with the knowledge that they had killed Shooter—led Kanaahn to train himself harder so that he could fulfill the vow he made that he would one day track down the Kothar and kill them as revenge. Sooner than he thought though, the Kothar came for another visit, but Kanaahn was still not strong enough, Kanaahn was once again downhearted and feeling defeated about his loss.

Eventually, the group reached the gates of Ethon, and soon came face to face with a long lost friend, Shooter. Who turned out not to have died as believed, and had travelled to Ethon along with a band of bandits and merchants who were bringing timber to Ethon to sell at the market. Once inside the city walls, the group soon realized that Shooter was mad at them for abandoning them, however they didn't have to time to make up with him, as they soon found themselves being whisked away to the Palace of Ethon to meet with the Dragon Master, King Leon Austrica, King of Estion. They also met Orichalum of Brass and four Tsuru siblings: Tsuta, Hasu, Saki and Yumi, who would soon become their teachers, mentors, and friends. After a month of training and living in the Palace of Ethon, Kanaahn's efforts at trying to better himself for revenge led Kyeit to leave him but also for Shooter to forgive him—through the encouragement of Saki. However, things were not all good, Supri Fothisevi—a massive, powerful, eight-headed dragon deity under the employ of Tenebrae—and a large army of undead, skeletal soldiers had begun to attack the city. With the dragons gone and only just returning from a training flight, the Warriors and their friends were left to fend for the city alone. The Warriors and King Leon struggled hard against the skeletal armies in order to keep the city safe and the villagers unharmed. However, after the unseen threat of black dragons, the unseen, true powers of Supri Fothisevi, and the unseen malice of the demon army, the city's walls crumbled and Ethon fell. The dragons—though late—arrived to help keep Supri Fothisevi away from the city, but even that could not quell his rage. During the struggle against the great dragon, Kanaahn was almost killed after being ripped into by it's jaws. In the end, the city was evacuated, and King Leon decided to take his city and it's patrons northeast to the Province of Anglum to the safety of the Daron Headquarters, while Kanaahn and the group went northwest towards the city of Malatrion and to their next destination, Aes of Copper.


	3. Chapter 1: Angova An Old Friend Returns

Chapter 1: Angova Village, An Old Friend Returns

Kanaahn sighed as he flicked the reigns of his wagon again; it felt good to be in control of a wagon again. "I love the open road," said Kanaahn blissfully, "Or at least I would if it _was_ and open road. Seriously guys, we've already left Estion, when the hell does this forest end? It's been nothing but trees since we left Altimara. I'm starting to get sick of them." Cecil laughed, "All you ever do is complain all the time, you know that?" she asked mockingly, "Can't you once ever say anything positive?" "No, that would kill me." Laughed Kanaahn, "No, but in all seriousness, when _does_ this forest end?" "It ends just before we reach Lake Utana," said Valence as she walked up between Cecil and Kanaahn's wagons, "We'll be in open savanna-like fields from Angova onwards. I've travelled this way before, I remember the lay of the land well." "Perfect!" said Kanaahn happily, "Which brings me to my next question, where are we right now?" Valence rolled her eyes and groaned, "Always with the questions," she muttered under her breath, "You ask questions like a child Kanaahn." Kanaahn shrugged and simply replied, "He who asks is a fool for a minute, but he who doesn't is a fool for a lifetime." Valence shook her head, "You can't live life by simply reciting old proverbs," she scolded, "But to answer your question, we should reach the end of the forest soon, and I'd say it'll take at least another day to reach Angova." Kanaahn paused and thought for a moment, "Alright, if we limit our supplies it should last until then." Said Kanaahn thoughtfully, "We'll be getting smaller portions tonight for dinner because of it, we need to make the food and water last until we get there."

"Leon said he gave us enough food to last until Angova," pointed out Shooter as he pulled up beside Kanaahn, "I don't know why it isn't lasting." "Unfortunately, we're shorter on supplies than Leon calculated," said Kanaahn, "Arkas and I checked it and regulated it and while doing that we realized we were short. It's not his fault though, with everything else going on, it's only natural for him to miscalculate, I'm just glad that he could take the time to give us supplies when already his were limited." Cecil nodded, "Yeah," she replied. Kanaahn looked over at Cecil, she seemed tense, secluded even. She was disconnected and seemed very deep in thought, and also very worried. "Cecil," said Kanaahn carefully, "Are you okay? You look sort of…well, off." Cecil instantly snapped back to reality, "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine!" she replied with a big smile, "Honest." Arial could see Cecil was lying, and that she was being bugged by something she obviously didn't want to talk about, so in hopes of helping her, Arial changed the subject. "So, Kanaahn, did you ever get Valence or Kinokaze to interpret that dream of yours?" Kanaahn's attention snapped from Cecil, to Arial, and then to his dream. "Shit," said Kanaahn, "I forgot." Arial rolled her eyes, "If your dream is real then we may as well be all dead now," said Arial crossing her arms, "Do you have any idea what it could mean?"

Kinokaze instantly stepped between Arial and Kanaahn, "What was your dream about Kanaahn?" she asked in an intervenient tone. Kanaahn was glad for the interruption; otherwise Arial might've killed him. Not wasting a second Kanaahn began to divulge into the details of his dream, major and minor, hoping any little bit of it could be interpreted. After he was done, there was a long pause, in which Valence and Kinokaze closed their eyes, and slowly began to interpret his dream. "Kanaahn," said Valence slowly, "You're dream…it is the truth, all of it. What you saw, it actually happened." Kanaahn sat upright in his wagon seat, "What?" he asked shocked, "You mean—how do you know for sure?" "The vibrations of the Earth," said Kinokaze whimsically, "I felt them too. Valence speaks the truth." "What do you mean vibrations?" asked Kanaahn, "Is it an earthquake kind of vibration? Or like, what?" Valence looked gravely at Kanaahn, "Both," she said dismally, "The Earth tremors, and not naturally. The tremors are the footsteps of something large and deadly, only a creature with the size of Supri Fothisevi could create tremors like this. Though the tremors are faint, the beast is far away from us, but he gains on us with every day, his goal is the city of Malatrion, he seeks to kill us and let the city crumble. If what you say is true Kanaahn, than Supri Fothisevi is following us under order of Tenebrae, and if he succeeds in his mission, we will all lie dead by the time he gets to us. We are not prepared, we must hurry to Angova, I know someone there who can help us send word to Malatrion and warn them of the danger."

Kanaahn swore loudly and looked over at Kinokaze, "What of the other tremors that Valence was talking about?" he asked, "The natural ones?" Kinokaze looked at him in the same dismal tone, "The Earth speaks, Kanaahn." She said, "It speaks to us through the whistling of the wind, the swaying of the trees, the rustling of the branches, the trickling of a stream, the rush of a river and the waves of the ocean. It speaks to us in the fall of the rain, and in the clap of thunder. The Earth is alive, and it speaks. The Earth is speaking to us Kanaahn, and it is weeping, it weeps for the impending doom that emanates from Supri Fothisevi. The Earth is injured, and it knows the danger Supri Fothisevi poses." "Hold up, hold up!" called Shooter from his wagon, "What is all this Earth speaking bullshit? That sounds like a bunch of old wives tales if you ask me; cryptic shit. If the Earth really talks then why can no one hear it?" "Because, foolish boy," said Valence, "You are humans. Humans have long since abandoned the old ways; they have forgotten what it was like to listen with your soul. They have gone deaf to the call of the Earth, but the Earth still lives. The Earth still talks, though few listen now a day. The animals, the trees, and us dragons and those who have passed on from this world; we are all that remain who can hear the Earth's words. Us dragons have never abandoned the old ways, even your dragons, though born and raised by humans should still be able to hear the Earth."

"Djall?" asked Kanaahn, implying for him to listen. Djall closed his eyes and there was a pause, a second later he nodded, "I hear it," answered the dragon, "Valence and Kinokaze were correct, the Earth is crying for us to save it. It's on the verge of collapse, the evil and malice that fills it is causing it to die." Adalinda closed her eyes as well, as did Risasi and Fyete, all three of their eyes shot open almost instantly. "Is it true?" asked Fyete. "It can't be…" said Adalinda. "No…no…it's not possible…" said Risasi in disbelief. "What?" asked Shooter worried, "What's wrong?" "The Earth it's…" started Risasi, "It's dying." Finished Valence darkly, "The Earth is dying. Tenebrae and his evil supporters along with his dark magic are killing the Earth. If Tenebrae wins this war, it's game over. The world will fall, and Tenebrae can do whatever he wants." "Does Tenebrae know this?" asked Kanaahn worriedly, "Does he know what will happen if he continues his campaign?" Valence gave a harsh laugh, "Ha!" she said, "You don't think he'd seriously go through everything he did to revive himself and his soldiers just to throw it all away did you? No, Tenebrae knew about this from the beginning. He knew that if he started this war what the consequences would be. That's precisely why he's doing this. If Tenebrae succeeds in this, he'll have complete control over the Earth. In a sense, he'll become the new Earth. Tenebrae's body will decay, but his spirit will live inside the Earth, controlling it, he will never die, and the world will burn in his crushing grasp. It will truly be hell on Earth."

"Wait," said Arkas suddenly, "Something doesn't make sense, if Tenebrae knew about all of this and he spent one hundred thousand years pretending to be King of Altimara, how come he didn't start a campaign before and take over the Earth?" "Because," said Valence, "He was weak. After Aurum and the other Metallic Dragons destroyed him, he was without a body, nothing more than a soul that clung to this Earth. He was a pitiful existence, and though everyone believed he was dead, Aurum knew differently, he knew that Tenebrae's soul remained on this Earth through his willpower alone, he clung to life because he wasn't about to give up. Tenebrae snuck away from Aurum, or rather, Aurum let him go. Tenebrae was powerless, nothing but a soul, Aurum knew he could do no harm, killing him would be an unfair fight. So Tenebrae returned to Altimara; then called Aldamora—a word in the old language that means Shining Star—and took over King Rego's body and pretended to be the king for millennia. He took the time to restore his powers and it wasn't until several months ago—around the same time you found the eggs—that he was finally strong enough to challenge Aurum and begin his campaign again. However, something happened that he did not foresee." "Us," said Kanaahn conclusively, "He never saw us coming did he?" "You're right," said Kinokaze, "He didn't. He had waited one hundred thousand years for the Warriors to return, but when they didn't, he thought that there would never be any Warriors again, so he took the liberty to be—well for lack of a better term—careless about his preparations. Even when word _did_ reach him that the Warriors had returned, he didn't see you as much of a threat, after all you are just kids. That's where he was wrong however, he got careless at Xiar; he underestimated you because of your age and that's why he lost. He wasn't happy because of it, and that's why he sent Supri Fothisevi after us."

"Tenebrae wants you all dead; he's tried before to kill the Daron, but he's always failed," said Valence, "But he wont need to kill the Daron, as long as he kills the Dragon Warriors then the Daron will loose hope and surrender. The Dragon Warriors are the last thing keeping the balance in this world; as long as you live Tenebrae cannot take over. Consider yourselves barriers of the Earth, four walls of unbreakable will that will never fall as long as you are properly braced." Kinokaze nodded but was interrupted from talking by Kanaahn, who interjected with, "What about Drakhart? He's alive, and he's still a Dragon Warrior, even if he is fighting for the wrong side. Doesn't he pose a threat to Tenebrae too?" Kinokaze's eyes grew sad, and Kanaahn knew the answer. "Drakhart is nothing more than a tool for Tenebrae," he said, "While Tenebrae is regaining his body, he knows that he will not be able to battle anyone. That is why he needs Drakhart, he needs someone to be his eyes, his voice, his ears and his body while he's still recovering. Drakhart only serves a purpose to Tenebrae as long as Tenebrae is still getting his body back, once Tenebrae can move freely, Drakhart will be killed. Drakhart is only needed to command the armies and to give Tenebrae's orders for him, but in the end, Tenebrae will kill him too."

"What about the ritual?" asked Kanaahn, "In my dream, Tenebrae said something to Drakhart about a ritual that involved our bodies—us Warriors I mean—what did ritual is he talking about?" Kinokaze and Valence looked at each other and sighed, "I think he plans to absorb your souls into his," said Valence, "He may also do the same to Drakhart in the end, but he wants your souls because with them, he'll be unstoppable. Your souls are filled with a powerful and latent magic, an old kind of magic that cannot be studied or researched; it is the most powerful kind of magic. It is a power that can only be used by those who are taught how, and have a bond with a dragon, because a dragon is required to use this power. It is a power that is undefeatable in almost every way. And because you are Dragon Warriors, saviors of this Earth, your version of this power is much more potent and much more powerful, because you have powers that can be granted to you by the Earth and only by the Earth." "So, Tenebrae wants us dead so he can fuse with us?" asked Shooter. "In a sense, yes." Said Kinokaze, "With the Dragon Warriors dead and out of the way, and with your souls as part of his—putting your powers in his command, as well as your dragons if he doesn't decide to kill them too—he can easily destroy the Daron, kill the Dragon Masters, and kill Aurum and the other Metallic Dragons. Once that is done, there will be nothing left from stopping Tenebrae from taking over the Earth by becoming the new Spirit of the Earth. He can only do this be entering the most guarded and mystical place the Daron have protected, the—" "Kinokaze!" hissed Valence, "They're not ready for such knowledge yet. You speak too much."

Kinokaze did a small bow with her head, "I'm sorry Valence," she said, "And I'm sorry that I couldn't not tell you Warriors, however, your time shall come when you will be ready to learn more about what we have just said. Until then, keep what you have learned to heart, it will help you in the future, and it is essential knowledge you will need later on." Kanaahn, Arial, Shooter and Arkas were all speechless, "How come you didn't tell us before?" asked Fyete, a question that everyone was too afraid to ask, "How come you didn't warn us about the dangers we faced, and the true reasons for Tenebrae's campaign?" "Because before now, you were not ready to hear it," said Valence plainly, "But now that Kanaahn has told us about his dream, the situation was unavoidable and you were deemed ready, therefore we decided to tell you." Fyete knew Valence's tone, and didn't press further. Finally, Kanaahn spoke, "Alright," he said, "We need to hurry to Angova so we can send a warning message to Malatrion, in that case, we'll need to race these carts there. Valence, how long will it take us if you dragons fly and we run the horses top speed?" Valence answered quickly, "Half a day," she said, "We'll be there by night fall." Kanaahn nodded, "Good," he said decisively, "Alright guys! We're going to go top speed! We need to pick up the pace if Supri Fothisevi is following us! So let's go!" With a loud "Hyah!" and a quick flick of the reigns, the horses pulling Kanaahn's wagon began to dash down the trail warranting a loud "Be careful!" from Kyeit who sat in the back of Kanaahn's wagon. Shooter quickly followed suit and the dragons each shot up into the air at top speed, then pulled into a swan dive and leveled out a few hundred feet above the treetops. Arkas however waited, looking back at Valence and Kinokaze who hadn't taken off yet. "Are you two coming?" he asked, Arial nodded, "Yeah, you guys should be up flying by now." She added.

"We'll be there in a minute," said Valence, "I need to talk with Kinokaze. Don't worry, we fly fast, we'll catch up in an instant, now go before you fall behind." Arkas and Arial looked at each other, and then back of Valence, reluctantly they agreed and Arkas made a clicking sound with his mouth and flicked the reigns, causing the horses to bolt top speed after Kanaahn and Shooter. As soon as the wagons were out of sight, Valence turned back to Kinokaze. "You must watch what you say in front of them," said Valence, "They're not ready to know everything yet." "Aurum said to tell them the information in gradual pieces," replied Kinokaze, "I'm not ashamed of what I did. They will find out eventually anyway." Valence sighed, "They're still not ready for it just yet," she said, "Whatever you do, from now on don't let anymore information slip. Use discretion when talking about the information we've been given." Kinokaze looked hard at Valence, "What about Aurum's prediction?" she asked, "The prediction about the Final Battle, how this would all end." "No!" hissed Valence in a whisper, "They're not supposed to know about that under _any_ circumstances." "But Valence," protested Kinokaze, "That battle is going to—" "Don't say it!" retorted Valence, "Aurum wasn't even sure which one of them it would happen to, he wasn't even sure if what he saw was real." "One of them is going to—" started Kinokaze. "I already told you not to say it!" warned Valence. "This quest is going to claim one of their lives Valence!" shouted Kinokaze, "That's the truth and you know it, don't deny it." "Not so loud!" hissed Valence, "Look, let's get going, just promise me you won't tell them about this or anything else in Aurum's vision, the after effects could be disastrous." With that, Valence was up in the air and flying off after the others. "Hmph." Said Kinokaze, "Fine, I won't tell them." And with that, Kinokaze was in the air, following close behind Valence.

Kanaahn pulled tight on the reigns of the horses and they came to a halt. Shooter and Arkas stopped just behind him, and the dragons circled twice around the city and landed a few miles away in what Kanaahn could only assume was a clearing. He wasn't worried about people seeing them, by now he knew that people were probably against Tenebrae, but just incase he had them fly up high so that they appeared as only small birds to the villagers. "Let's find a tavern," said Kanaahn, he flicked the reigns again and the horses began to move towards the center of town. As if some higher power had heard him, just as he entered the center of town, Kanaahn noticed a sign hanging from one of the buildings, "The Dragon's Claw Inn" it read. "There," said Kanaaahn pointing to the sign, "And it has a stable in the back so we can put the wagons and horses there." As Kanaahn lead Arkas and Shooter towards the stable, he took a close look at the town. It looked a lot like Romontya, and even the center of town was similar. The center of town was a circular area, with buildings surrounding it, with curved fronts so that when lined up they made a perfect circle. There was even a fountain in the center of the town too, the only difference was that the roofs of the houses were straw thatch instead of wooden shingles and the streets were white stone instead of grey.

"It's eerily similar to Romontya isn't it?" asked Shooter as he hopped from the wagon seat. He unhitched the horses from the wagons and let them run into the barn stables, then closed the door behind them—after Kanaahn and Arkas had done the same. "Yeah," said Kanaahn, "It is isn't it?" Kanaahn wasn't completely focused on his conversation with Shooter, he was still thinking about everything Kinokaze had said before, and wondering what it was exactly she was forbidden from telling them. Kanaahn's mind continued to attempt to wrap itself around the thoughts in his head, while his body helped Shooter pick up one of the beams of the wagon and push it into a nearby stall. He helped Arkas do the same, and then walked back out towards the street. "Kanaahn," said Kyeit as she wrapped her arms around one of his, "Are you okay? You haven't said much since we arrived." Kanaahn sighed, "I'm fine," he said, "I'm just thinking about what Valence and Kinokaze said." Kyeit leaned up and kissed Kanaahn on the cheek, "Don't worry about it Kanaahn," she said with a smile, "It'll all be explained in time, alright?" Kanaahn sighed and smiled, "I can't worry when you smile like that," he said, "You're smiles always make everything better." Kyeit giggled and smiled back at Kanaahn, "Good," she said. As the group entered the tavern, they noticed it had a familiar look about it. A high ceiling with a wooden, straw covered floor, lamps hanging from the support pillars and a chandelier hanging over the middle of the room. "This looks like—" started Cecil. "Well there's a sigh' for sore eyes," laughed a familiar voice, "If it ain't me ol' friends!" The group wheeled around towards the stairs and smiled as they saw, the red faced, bristly mustached, Rort standing on the top landing.

Rort threw down a bar towel which he held in his hand and ran down the steps, his arms out. As he reached the landing he proceeded to pull each and everyone one of the kids into a tight hug. "Rort!" said Cecil in surprise, "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Romontya?" "Nah," said Rort as he led everyone towards the bar, "Not since tha' big ol' brute and his army o' buggers came in and smashed up tha place." "They destroyed the city?" asked Kanaahn in alarm, "Did anyone get out alive?" Kanaahn couldn't help but feel a personal connection with the city, after everything he and his friends had endured just to save it from the Kothars wrath. "Well I dunno…" said Rort as he rubbed his head in thought and let out a deep breath, "Musta been a few who got out yah, but I dunno how many, sorry…" "How bad was the destruction?" asked Arkas. "They tor up tha place those rascals did, burned it to the ground after pillagin' the village. I 'scaped when I could, didn' bother takin' anythin' wiff me. Came here after I did, rebuil' me bar, changed tha name, and now I'm 'appy as a bee near 'oney. Shame abou' the ol' place, but, way I see it is, I'm jes lucky to 'ave 'scaped wiff me life I am." said Rort with a small nod, instantly his composure changed and he was happy and cheerful again, "Ah, but this ain' a time fer thinkin' abou' the past. We're back together again and we're all alive and well, this calls for a celebration. Can I getcha a drink?" Everyone nodded and he passed them around a mug of ale each. "Le' me tell ya now," said Rort, "I never though' in all me days, that I'd be seein' you kids again. And never did I think in me life that any of you'd be _the_ Dragon Warriors!"


	4. Chapter 2: Heroes at the Dragon Claw Inn

Chapter 2: Heroes at the Dragon Claw Inn

Kanaahn instantly chocked on his ale and coughed it up. Cecil and Kyeit choked on theirs as well and entered a coughing fit. Arkas dropped his all over the floor, Arial almost fell off her chair and Shooter completely slid off of his. "S-sorry, what?" spluttered Kanaahn as he tried to clear his throat of ale. Rort laughed and happily cleaned up Arkas's drink, "Ya didn' think I was a total block'ead didja?" asked Rort, "The nigh' those flyin' brutes attacked the town and tried burnin' it to tha ground, I wen' out to go fight 'em, but by the time I did, I was too late. They 'ad flown off—they were cowardly buggers weren't they?—anyway, as I came out ta fight 'em, I saw you, Kanaahn, and you were out there fightin' head on with one of them. 'Course they still got away, but then—as if seein' ya fight off 'em monsters wasn' enough excitement for me—I saw tha' young girl o'er there—" he said pointing over at Arial with a wide smile on his face, "—yes you. I saw you usin' some sor' o' magic which made the rains come and put ou' the fire." Kanaahn, finally over coming his coughing fit, leaned forward towards Rort and hissed in a whisper, "How did you—" he started, "I mean, how did you figure out we were the Dragon Warriors from that? I mean, we could be anyone, just because we were fighting the—those monsters, and just because we could use magic, we could be anybody." Rort laughed, "Ah," he said with a laugh, "But tha's exactly wha' I said to myself, I says, 'Nah Rort ol' boy, they can't be oo ya think they are, they can't.' But, then I did some thinkin', and I figured, it 'ad ta be! I 'ad been 'earin' rumors tha' the Dragon Warriors 'ad been runnin' around all o'er the place, and plus, I saw all yer dragons. They were standin' by tha wall weren' they?" Kanaahn's head hit the table, "We're fucked," he groaned, "I can't believe we let a stupid mistake like that happened. No wonder Tenebrae—"

"Don' get yer knickers in a knot Kanaahn," laughed Rort, "I ain't gonna turn ya in. Yer my friend, and I think what all o' ya kids are doin' is great. Yer brave, all o' ya'll, I respect ya'll." Kanaahn looked up with a smile, "Really?" he asked relieved, "Thank god. You won't believe what we've been through. We had to fight off a dragon god, and we got our Warrior butts handed to us." Rort's face grew dim, "Ethon fell then, eh?" he asked as he poured his own ale and drank heavily. There was tension in the air for a while, until Cecil broke it with comforting words, "But, if it's any consolation, we got King Leon, Orichalum, Thrae and the rest of the soldiers and citizens evacuate safely. They're with the Daron by now with any luck, and they're planning an attack that will get the city back under their control." Rort's face got a bit lighter as he heard Cecil's words, "Well, that's good to hear," he said with a faint smile, "At least no one else 'ad ta die cuz o' them bastards." Rort took another swig of ale and then returned to his cheery self, "But, we shouln' dwell on things past, am I righ'?" he asked, "For now, we celebrate! It ain' every day 'eroes stay at me inn, now id it? And ol' friends ta boot." Kanaahn laughed and patted Rort on the back, "Ever the kind man, Rort," he said, "But we feel bad about what happened to Romontya, after all the work we did to save it from the Kothar."

"Kothar?" asked Rort, "Oh, you mean 'em flyin' bastards. Yeah, well, it's only tha least I can do fer ya. Ya did a lot for me, an for the village. Yer 'eroes!" Rort smiled and passed another round of ale to Kanaahn and the others, then with a smile he added, "On tha 'ouse!" he shouted happily, "And fer everyone else in tha place too!" Within minutes, ales were being passed along to every patron in the inn. Before the kids knew it, music was playing and food was being offered, and it made for one hell of a party. Before long, Kanaahn and Rort were dancing up on the tables, singing folk songs from Altimara, with Arial and Arkas on harmony. While Kyeit and Cecil watched from the sidelines, clapping in time with the beat. After a few hours, the party began to dissipate, and Rort and the Warriors were left cleaning up. "That was one hell of a party Rort," said Kanaahn as he mopped up a puddle of ale and vomit. "Ah, you shoulda seen some o' the ones we through back when I was a youngster," he said as he and Arkas washed dishes and glasses, Rort let out a loud, bursting laugh which caused Arkas to drop a plate on the ground, causing it to shatter. Which startled Cecil who dropped her mop. As Cecil blushed and shyly picked up her mop, while Arkas nervously picked up the bits of the plate between muttered apologies, Rort continued his train of thought, "They were wild ones, I'll tell ya tha'. Oh! An' tha' reminds me! As long as yer stayin' here, yer not gonna pay a penny, everythin's on tha house." "No, Rort," started Kyeit, "We couldn't, we'd feel bad, really. You're too kind." Rort laughed as he placed the clean mugs into a cupboard, "It's nothin' considerin'" he said with a smile, "You guys 'ave done so much for Altimara and Estion, it's tha least I can do ta repay ya."

"Well," said Arial as she paused her mopping for a second to pull something out of her satchel, which was soon to be revealed as a moneybag, "We don't have a lot of money left, what between spending on supplies throughout out trip, and then room and board, I don't think we could afford another night." Cecil's mind seemed to become distant at the mention of money, she looked over at Arial as if she wanted to say something, anything, to help her, but kept silent as Kanaahn placed down his mop and started talking. "So I guess we have no choice but to accept the offer then, Rort," said Kanaahn with a smile, "Thank you very much for your offer, we appreciate it. There's just one condition though." Rort raised an eyebrow and smiled beneath his bristly mustache, "An' what would tha' be now?" he asked intrigued. "You have to let us pay you back next time we meet," said Kanaahn, "And this-this kitchen work here, doesn't count." Rort stuck out his burly hand and Kanaahn shook it, "Ya got yerself a deal, Kanaahn." Said Rort with a bursting laugh, "Yer a hard worker an' an honest man, I like tha'." Kanaahn blushed and laughed along with Rort, and for the first time, Kanaahn couldn't help but feel like he had a father figure in his life, or at least, an uncle figure. But still, the feeling was nice, because no one had ever connected with Kanaahn like this, Mr. Gainsborough had died trying to pull Kanaahn from the burning wreckage of his home after the death of his parents, and all he had was Mrs. Gainsborough as a parental figure. Part of Kanaahn couldn't help but feel that Rort saw Kanaahn in the same light, as a sort of adopted son, or at least Kanaahn liked to think so. The group continued to clean up for another hour or so, and after a quick meal of bread and warm soup, Kanaahn and the others went up to bed. They would have to leave early in the morning if they were going to make it to Malatrion in two days. Supri Fothisevi was still on their tail, and with every second they were in Angova, was another step closer Supri Fothisevi was to reaching them.

Cecil sat on the bench at the glass window, the moonlight splashing across her and spilling onto the floor. Her legs were tucked against her body and she rested her head on her knees as she stared out at the sky. She let out a long sigh as a tear ran down her cheek, meanwhile, Arkas walked up behind her—he too hadn't been able to sleep. Noticing the tears in her eyes, Arkas tenderly sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Cecil," he said softly. Cecil jumped in surprise but kept her face hidden, "Cecil, are you okay?" asked Arkas again. "Y-yeah," she said, "I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep." Arkas moved a little closer, "I saw you crying," he said, "Are you alright?" Cecil nodded, not responding vocally. "Cecil…" said Arkas softly; "You know you can trust me right?" There was a pause, after which Cecil swung around and hugged Arkas. "I know," she said, "I'm just going through some stuff right now…it's…it's hard for me, that's all. I know what I'm saying doesn't make much sense, but it will in time, okay?" Arkas was thrown off the by the hug, but soon got over his bout of surprise and hugged Cecil back, "Yeah," he said, "I understand." Cecil pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes, "It seems like it's always you and me who wake up in the middle of the night," she said, "But I enjoy these nighttime talks with you." Arkas blushed and started to play with his fingers, "Well, thanks," he said, "I enjoy them too. But it's ironic; the last time we did this it was also at Rort's inn, only in Romontya."

Cecil smiled, "Yeah," she said, "That's true." Cecil smiled, and Arkas smiled back at her. There was a pause, and a long silence, slowly the two moved closer together, their eyes closing, their lips perking, when all of a sudden there was a knock on the window. Arkas jumped off the bench—as did Cecil—and the bench toppled over. Kanaahn, Kyeit and Shooter woke up from the noise and the magic of the moment was lost. Something in Arkas felt pained, he couldn't believe he'd just lost such a chance to kiss Cecil, and she was going to kiss him back. And now everything was gone, and it was like nothing happened, and nothing would get the moment back. Suddenly Arkas's head was filled with what ifs. What if he had kissed her faster? What if he had drawn the blinds? What if he had gotten up the courage to talk to Cecil earlier? Arkas's thoughts were disrupted as Kanaahn—grumpily—got out of bed, mumbled something about being woken up in the middle of the night, and threw open the window. "What the hell do you—" Kanaahn's grumpiness dissipated as his eyes opened and he realized, Orichalum was standing outside the window, standing on his hind legs and leaning against the building. The dragon stuck part of his neck through the window, and after a small bow of his head he spoke. "Supri—" Kyeit cut him off, "Yes, we know," she said politely, "Kanaahn, well Kanaahn had a vision—dream…thing. He foresaw it, and he had Valence interpret it." Orichalum shook his head, "No, I know that already." He said, "Kanaahn and Aurum aren't the only people who can foresee the future. I knew you knew the second it happen. Anyway, the point is, he's following your _direct route_."

"What do you mean?" asked Arial as she pulled the blankets tighter around herself as the cold air blew in through the window. Kanaahn paused for a second, as did Shooter, the two of them thought, and then swore loudly at the same time. "It means," started Kanaahn, "That he's following the _exact_ _route_ we took from Ethon." "Which means," continued Shooter, "He's following our scent or something, and following in each exact footstep we take." "Exactly," said Kanaahn as he paced around the room, "Which means he's going to head through Angova and tear the place up before coming to us in Malatrion. People are going to die like they did in Romontya." Shooter nodded, "We need to leave now," he said, "Should we evacuate Orichalum?" Everyone began to run around and gather his or her things as Orichalum continued to talk, "Yes, that's imperative. But don't worry, Argentum and Thrae are here with me, they'll help with the evacuation efforts. We'll be moving everyone to the Daron Headquarters; they'll be safe there; what with the entire Daron and Ethonian armies, not to mention Thrae, Argentum and I. But in order for this to work you will need to leave _now_, if Supri Fothisevi knows you're not here, he's going to pass right through, minimizing damage done to the city, that means all we'll need to do is evacuate before he reaches the city." "How so?" asked Arial as she covered herself with her blanket and got dressed beneath it. "Well," started Orichalum, "Blood lusting as Supri Fothisevi is, he has one job, and that is to find and kill you. He's not going to stop and rampage an entire village if he knows firstly you're not here, and secondly no one is here to terrify. But, in order for this to work you need to leave _right now_—as I mentioned. At this point right now, you're all that matters." "Can't you kill Supri Fothisevi while you're here?" asked Shooter, "It'll save us all the trouble. I mean you have two of the five greatest and most powerful dragons on Earth—plus one of their daughters. Won't that be enough to bring him down?" Orichalum shook his head, "It is not our destinies to kill him this time," he said, "It lies with you, that job. Besides, he is protected by powerful dark magic that even we cannot break, it is something only you can do."

Arial emerged from the sheets fully dressed and threw her nightgown into her satchel. "Well, it might just be the lack of sleep talking," she said, "But what you're saying sort of actually makes sense." Orichalum nodded, "I'll go patrol the parameters of the city, I'll keep an eye out for Supri Fothisevi." Orichalum pulled back from the window and prepared for take off, "Oh!" he called back, "And don't worry about Rort being offended by this, I've already alerted him to the danger and explained to him. He agrees your safety is priority and has roused the militia to help us regulate and control the panic during evacuation. He's a brave man that Rort." "What about our dragons?" asked Kanaahn as he dashed to the window. Orichalum flapped his wings a few times, causing wind and dust to blow everywhere as if it was a hurricane, "Argentum and Thrae have warned them and explained the situation," called Orichalum down to them as he gained altitude, "They're waiting for you by the western gate!" And with that, Orichalum was gone, disappearing high into the purple sky, until he was a black dot that circled the city. "Everyone ready?" asked Kanaahn as he strapped on his sword. He waited until everyone responded positively and then marched out the door. Kanaahn and the others barreled down the steps, and through the door. As they around to the back towards the stables they could hear other horses panic and whinny—they knew something bad was happening. People rushed through the streets, shouting and gathering up loved ones and belongings. Kanaahn, Shooter and Arkas pulled the wagons from their corner and got the horses. After hitching them to their wagon, Arkas, Shooter and Kanaahn took their seats at the reigns while Cecil, Arial and Kyeit each climbed into a wagon. As Kanaahn flicked the reigns to get the horses going, Kyeit yawned from behind him and asked, "Can you be careful with the cart?" she asked, "I'm still tired, I want to sleep."

Kanaahn nodded and smiled softly, "Alright, I'll try not to hit any bumps." He said, "Sweet dreams, Kyeit." As Kyeit got comfortable to sleep, Kanaahn and the others piloted their carts through the crowded streets, stopping every few minutes to allow crowds of people to pass. Finally, after an hour of start-stop travelling across the city, Kanaahn finally reached the gates. Just as Orichalum had promised, the dragons were waiting outside the gate for them. Risasi raised his head from the ground and looked over at Shooter as he drove his cart out of the gate. "Quite a knot in our plans isn't it?" he asked as he stood up and stretched his wings. Risasi let out a yawn and smoke billowed from his nostrils. "Tell me about it," said Shooter, "But it's better safe than sorry I guess, I'd rather loose sleep then let people die for us." Arial smiled and poked her head out of the back of his wagon, "You're maturing Shooter," she said, "It's nice to see." Shooter gave her a lopsided smile, "Don't count on it," he said, "This is probably just the sleep talking." Valence turned and looked towards the west, at the wide-open grasslands that waited. "Come," she said, "We don't have time for idle chatter, we must get to Malatrion before Supri Fothisevi gets to us." Kanaahn rolled his eyes and flicked the reigns, "When did she start taking over this group?" he asked sarcastically. "Since our lives were in danger," said Arkas as he drew his wagon up beside Kanaahn's as they started out on the road, "Don't worry Kanaahn, she's just trying to do what's best for us. You heard Kinokaze on the way to Angova, we're the only hope for this world. She's just making sure we get to where we need without dying." Kanaahn sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, "She just better not do it again, I'm the leader here." Arkas and Kanaahn both laughed as they flicked the reigns harder, bringing the horses into a galloping run. They're next stop, Malatrion.


	5. Chapter 3: The Road to Malatrion

Chapter 3: Road to Malatrion

Kanaahn sighed with boredom as he leaned against the wall of the wagon. Kyeit was driving the wagon for him while he was supposed to be catching up on sleep. The sun beat high up in the school as noon approached and Kanaahn still hadn't gotten any rest. He was too anxious to rest. Supri Fothisevi was tailing them, and they hadn't stopped riding for two days, they rode the wagons in shifts, and would often have the dragons fly up and check for Supri Fothisevi. Kanaahn hadn't slept in days, not since they left Angova, in fact no one had. They were anxious to rest when they weren't riding the wagons, and when they were riding they wagons, they didn't have time to sleep. This led to high tensions, and quite a bit of quarreling. Instead of sleeping, Kanaahn sat, cross armed, in the back of Kyeit's wagon, listening to Cecil as she explained to Arkas what the flags of the different continents looked like. She had just started, and for some reason, Kanaahn found it interesting. "Well, the flag of Asardaea is two rearing lions facing each other with a white sword pointing downward between them on a copper background." Explained Cecil as she described Asardaea's flag, Kanaahn tried to picture it in his mind, and it seemed pretty regal. It reminded him of what one of the elders in town had said during a town meeting. You can tell a lot about a country and it's leaders by the flag they choose to represent it. 'Seems like the leader of this country is a strong and capable warrior," Kanaahn thought analytically to himself, 'Probably brave too, no doubt cunning in battle. I can't wait to meet him.' "Why those symbols exactly?" asked Arkas curiously. Cecil seemed to grow distant for a second, and paused before answering, then as she snapped back into focus she answered with a faint smile, "Their leader is a strong, fierce warrior." She said simply, "Though he has a big heart, and is very kind to those who are allied against him. He's a brave man, and a veteran warrior of many battles, he's put more soldiers into the Daron than any other country—save for Espias." Kanaahn smiled, he was right. Cecil continued, "The next flag to learn is from Estion, the flag is a green sword a fully grown tree set against a brass colored background." Said Cecil as she explained Estion's flag to Arkas.

'The elders were right,' thought Kanaahn, 'The flag a leader chooses does reflect a lot about them.' Having travelled to Estion, he knew that the trees stood for the vast, ancient forests that covered the whole of the country, except for a large ring of flat grassy plains that stretched outward from Ethon—the capital city—for a few miles; all that remains of the trees that had been cleared to build the city centuries ago. Cecil moved on after a quick nod of understanding from Arkas, and Kanaahn's attention zoned back to her, "The flag of Danennova is a blue x, in which a sword points to each corner of it, against a bronze background," explained Cecil, "The x symbolizes the x shape that the three major rivers—the Actur, Terthon, and Utas—create as they each cross each other. The four sword represent four villages that each sit on a different corner of the x shape between the rivers, and one of each of the four founders came from one of the four villages." Kanaahn visualized the flag and wondered what the leader of that country might be like. He saw a strong, middle-aged man; srict, stern, traditional and to the rules, but also with compassion and a softer side. No doubt with a beard, or mustache—or both. He saw him with streaks of gray hair, and the stereotypical depiction of a knight. Kanaahn couldn't help but wait to meet him with these expectations.

Kanaahn regained his attention as the wagon rocked and shook him from his thoughts, making him realize Cecil had just started explaining the next flag. He remained silent and listened. "Next flag is that of Anglum," she said with a brief pause as she veered her wagon around a large pothole, "The flag is emblazoned with a pure white snow flake and two swords crossed behind it, set against a silver background." Kanaahn couldn't imagine a leader for this country, though he soon found his answer as to why, "The country is unique, as it is one of the only two countries on the continent to have no official ruler. Anglum is mostly mountainous, with mountains so tall that they pierce the clouds. It's always covered in a thick sheet of ice and snow, and has only a few months of sunshine a year. It has only one town, the town of Utova, at the base of the largest mountain in the country, and it sits beside Lake Era. The town of Utova _is_ ruled by a regent, a Lord something or other, but his name escapes me. The country is mostly home to Argentum and the Daron Army and Headquarters." Arkas asked a question that had been burning in Kanaahn's mind for a long time, "Where _is_ the Daron Headquarters exactly?" he asked, "I know it's in Anglum, but we've never been told the exact location." Cecil smiled and faced the road, "Unfortunately it's not at my discretion to tell you that information, but the time will soon come where you find out." Arkas's curiosity didn't dissipate, but he held his tongue, and asked a different question.

"How is that Lord something or other a regent?" asked Arkas, "To be a regent you had to be of nobility, and to be of nobility you had to either be related to the king or appointed by the king. And seeing as Anglum has no king, that'd mean it's impossible for that Lord to be a regent." Cecil nodded with a small giggle, "You're very curious and perceptive aren't you?" she asked rhetorically, "Well, you're right, Lord something or other isn't a regent. Not in a traditional sense. He _was_ a regent before—or at least he's descended from one. His ancestor was once the regent lord of Küla, but after Tenebrae killed the king and took over, nothing was safe for the other nobility—Tenenbrae never liked the idea of the other nobles having control of their own armies and towns and plotting against him and killing him if they so felt; he was always paranoid—so he destroyed towns in Altimara, and killed their regents. Küla and Xiar weren't always the town villages left you know? Anyway, his ancestor fled before he could be killed and escaped north to Anglum along with many villagers who fled Küla before Tenebrae—disguised as the king—attacked. Once he reached Anglum he found himself at the mercy of the elements, unable to fend for himself in the blinding, constant snow, and was forced to strike a deal with the Daron—who at first planned to attack and kill him for trespassing on their lands. The deal was, the Daron would shelter the ancestor and his villagers in their headquarters for one year, and feed them and clothe them while they built a village to live in afterwards. And in return, the ancestor and his villagers had to annually supply some soldiers to the Daron—these soldiers were taken from the village. The ancestor happily agreed, and was himself the first to sign up, leaving his son in charge of the city. As it turned out, most of the able bodied men from the village that fled with the ancestor were more than happy to join an organization that would bring down Tenebrae and the king that drove them from their homes. To this day the village's young men still honor the deal made with Argentum one hundred thousand years ago. And _that_ is how the Lord something or other is regent, it is a title he inherited from his ancestor.

Arkas nodded and took mental note of what Cecil had just said before Cecil continued. "I'm sure you can guess which flag is next," said Cecil somewhat more dimly than usual, "Altimara, formerly Aldamora. The flag of current day Altimara is a black background, with the red eye of a dragon in the center." Kanaahn couldn't but shiver as he imagined the flag, it was simpler the other countries, but it still said a lot about Altimara and who ruled it. At the same time, Kanaahn couldn't help but feel homesick as he thought of Altimara and his home and his childhood. Kanaahn tried to shake it out of his mind, and though it worked partly, there was still that part of him, back in his mind that was still homesick. Kanaahn was tired all of a sudden and stopped listening in on Cecil's conversation with Arkas. He just wanted to sleep for a little while, before it was his turn to start leading the wagon again. Rolling over in his bedroll, Kanaahn closed his eyes and fell to sleep. Falling into dreams of his home, and his childhood.

Kanaahn woke with a vigor he didn't know he had. As soon as Kyeit woke him to switch shifts, he jumped from his bedroll and kissed her quickly on the cheek, before letting her fall asleep and he took over the wagon. Kanaahn tugged the reigns slightly to check that they were still hooked up properly and then flicked them with a medium strength. The horses whinnied and brayed and started to gallop ahead towards their goal. It was then that Kanaahn realized, none of them had named the horses, and after travelling with them for so long, it seemed a sort of heartless thing to do. So in his own mind, Kanaahn amused himself by thinking up names for the horses. First he started with the horse on the left, it was a strong, Shire horse. Black with a white diamond in the center of it's forehead. It had a long white main, and long, white fur around its ankles and hooves. The horse had a long white tail. Kanaahn guessed it was a boy, from what he remembered of the horse when it was detached from the wagon. 'Versvesh,' thought Kanaahn, 'That's a good name for that horse.' Kanaahn smiled, amused with himself and his task and moved on to the next horse. It was a light brown horse, a Clydesdale, with a white main, a white line down its forehead, and a long white tail, the color of snow. White fur covered it's ankles and it had a white maw. It was quite clearly a female, which led Kanaahn to call her "Naina." Kanaahn smiled again, he was happy with the names he was choosing. It gave him a distraction and a purpose for the time being. Kanaahn moved on to the next set of horses, the ones that drew Arkas's wagon. They were two Percheron horses, each splashed with dots of gray and white, with short stubby tails and long flowing manes.

Kanaahn noticed spit and foam flying from their maw as they ran. They were tired; everyone was. He didn't blame them, but Kanaahn promised to find some way of making it up to the horses. Kanaahn decided to name the horse on Arkas's left—a male—"Agora" and the one on Arkas's right—a female—"Noria." Kanaahn moved on to the final two horses, two large Cream Draft horses, with cream white bodies and long cream white manes. Their tails swished gracefully as they ran, and they were truly, the most beautiful horses that the kids had in their possession. Kanaahn knew exactly what to name them, "Vor" and "Wurunwa." Vor was the male on the left, and Wurunwa, the male on the right. Kanaahn smiled, and his job of naming the horses was done. But at the same time, he was bored, and only 20 minutes had passed since he began this task, and they were still at least a day from Malatrion; a few hours at the least. Kanaahn was about to return to his usual pass time—counting boulders in the field as they passed—when he heard a loud scream and he almost whirled around and pulled Vervesh and Naina to a stop, but kept himself from doing so as that would've slowed them down. "What's wrong?" he called back worriedly to Arial, as he had realized it was her that screamed. There was a pause, and she didn't respond, "Arial, what's wrong? Are you okay?" called Kanaahn again. Arial responded this time, shock still in her voice, "I'm fine!" she said, "I just got startled!" Kanaahn looked at Shooter, who was straining to look over his shoulder to see if Arial was all right. Shooter looked back and shrugged, to which Kanaahn bit his lip. Arial responded after a few minutes of silence, "Saki, Hasu, Tsuta and Yumi sent me their spells books by magic!" she called from the back of Shooter's wagon, "They appeared in my lap with a flash of light which I wasn't really expecting, and I got startled!"

Kanaahn sighed with relief, she was all right, Kanaahn turned his head back slightly and called back over his shoulder, "Don't scare us like that again" he called back to Arial, and then added quietly to himself, "You almost gave me a heart attack." There were several loud thuds that verberated through the air and shook the ground. Kanaahn rolled his eyes, wondering what it was now, but was relieved to see that it was only the dragons touching down behind them. They all look excited and eager to speak. Fyete was the first to touch down, and ran towards Arkas to relay the good news, "We're almost at Malatrion!" said the large blue dragon—whose voice, Kanaahn had noticed, had grown deeper, and was now almost as deep as Risasi's, "We'll be there within the hour." Everyone cheered and let out sighs of relief and joy, finally their hard work had paid off. After three days and nights with no food and limited rest, Kanaahn was ready to relax, eat and then prepare for some action as Supri Fothisevi neared the city. Kanaahn stretched his arms for a second, and then as the cheers died down, called out, "So what are we waiting for? Let's get going! Last one to the city has to fight the next battle with only his hands!" Everyone laughed and Shooter, Arkas and Kanaahn spurred their wagons forward as the dragons simultaneously lifted themselves off into the air again. They remained low to the ground for the rest of the trip, only 50 feet above the wagons. They blocked out most of the light, and created a large area of shade around the Warriors and their surroundings like a large wave of winged clouds. The whole ride to Malatrion, Kanaahn couldn't help but wonder what lied ahead for them at the city, what would their adventures be like this time?

Chapter 4: The Fortress City of Malatrion

As the dragons raised their elevation and picked up speed to head towards the city—they decided to go on ahead and land in the stables to wait for the Warriors with Aes and Cecil had chosen to go with them—Kanaahn stared up in awe at the great city of Malatrion. They were only a kilometer from the city, but it stood out on the horizon like a beacon; the only bump in a wide, flat open field. From where he was, Kanaahn could see at least 10, large watch towards stick up from above the city, all at varying heights. Kanaahn could also see that the city sat upon a raise hill, and the buildings were building along the cliffs on tiers. Thick, red walls that were who knows how high, surrounded the outer most rim of the city, and each tier of the city afterwards were surrounded by similar—yet shorter—walls as well. In the very center of city, on the highest point, was a large, walled building with three large, spiraling towers erupting towards the sky. Kanaahn could see carvings, statues and figures on each of the towers, and he could also see they—like all the buildings in the city—were made of a thick, dark gray stone. The city looked like the ultimate fortress, and not like a city Kanaahn had ever seen before. It was definitely larger than Ethon—at least twice the size—and was about—from the stories Kanaahn had heard anyway—a third the size of Kasaadua, the black stone city that sat as the capitol of Altimara and the center of Tenebrae's evil rule. Kyeit smiled from behind Kanaahn and sat herself down beside him. "You think its beautiful now, wait until you get inside the walls." She said with a smile. Kanaahn looked at her and continued the horses forward towards the city.

"The city was built to be the ultimate fortress," said Kyeit as she pointed towards the city walls, "It was built long ago, but a great military leader who lead the people against the tyrant king. He marched on the capitol and dethroned the king, and the people made him their leader. The current king is his descendant; it's an old and ancient lineage. Once the military leader became king, he made a few modifications to the city. For example, the entire city was put on tiers and arches were placed on the roofs. The downward slope of the tiers allows for clear view of the city for the archers and ensures that those higher up will not hit civilians or houses. The castle was placed in the center of course and is large enough to house the entire city within it's walls—in case of an attack they can safely protect everyone in the city. A wall guards each tier, the inner and outer most walls being the highest and thickest. Several watch towers and a lighthouse are placed throughout the city, and the three attached to the palace are keeps where dragons may stay when they need a place to rest. However, the best defensive tactic the new king implemented was digging Malatrion out from the surrounding land. If you walked right up to the city, you'd find yourself at a vertical drop and a cliff with sharp rocks and water below. It's a lagoon with an island in the middle, and on the island is the city."

Kanaahn looked puzzled, and before he could ask his question, Kyeit spoke again, "Bridges," she said, "Three bridges to be precise; one to the north, one to the east, and one to the west and one to the south. They're large wooden bridges that are supported by wooden beams, which were hewn from the tallest, thickest and oldest trees in Asardaea. The bridges are lined with oil—meaning that some of the beams are hollow—so if need be, the bridges can be burnt to prevent attackers from reaching the city." "Then how to do they leave city to rebuild the bridges and gather supplies once the battle is over?" asked Kanaahn, "If their only means of getting in and out of the city is destroyed?" Kyeit smiled and looked towards the city, "There are rafts which they can use to get across the waters below, and there are set of stone steps hewed within the rock—like a tunnel—which heads up to the top of this side of the bridges. The entrance is covered by several feet of dirt, which requires some mining, but the city has the supplies to last them. You see, it's all the ways the tiers are organized which allows them to do so. The outermost ring contains all of the military barracks. Every soldier in the city lives within the outermost tier. The tier after that contains the markets; all of the shops are situated there, and all the buying, trading and selling goes on there. Then, the third tier has all the farms, where all the livestock and food is grown and raised. The fourth tier, the closest to the palace is the residential tier, and this is where everyone lives. Farmers, villagers, middle class and nobility, all live together in different sections of this tier. The inner most ring is the palace. From this layout, can you tell why the city was situated the way it was?"

Kanaahn thought for a moment, and then another moment, and he kept thinking, adding everything together and thinking of every possible, logical reason for why the city was built like this. Then he answered, "The city is built in tiers, for the reasons you said, to better protect the city and to help the archers on the roofs defend the city from attackers. And also because it's harder to wheel siege engines like battering rams and catapults up a hill than it is to bring them across a flat surface. Each tier is walled as to protect those who live within, and if the one of the walls is breached, they can pull the people behind the next set of walls for safety. The outer most tier houses the military so that they can easily be the first responders to an attack from the outside of the city instead of having to rush from the center of the city through panicking crowds. It also gives the other tiers some protection, because the enemy will have to fight their way through the outer wall, the wall that guards the second tier, and the soldiers of the city. The next tier has all the markets because the markets can easily be lost or destroyed in battle with minimal casualties; as long as the people don't live there they can afford to loose it. Which is why the next tier is farms and the one after is residential. The farms are close to the markets so that trading is easier for the farmers, and they're within the city so that when people attack they don't burn the farms down and destroy Malatrion's only source of food. So technically, as long as they can keep the enemy outside of the city or at least the farming tier, they can last forever because they'll still have a reproducing food supply. Then afterwards is the residential tier because people are more important than livestock and food in the long run, and if the farm tier is taken, Malatrion can always rely on their food caches to supply the people for as long as they'll last. It also saves the farmers from being killed when the farms are taken, because they all live within the same tier with the nobility and merchants and such. All the people live together so that they can easily be recalled to the palace without having to scramble through a battle field to reach the center of the city—they're all already beside the palace. Also, making people of different wealth and status live together allows for mingling between the rich and poor and allows for comradery between all citizens regardless of how rich or poor they are. And finally, the palace, which is the last line of defense against attackers; it's meant to house all the citizens of the city so that they'll be safe if the enemy takes all the other tiers."

There was a pause as Kyeit thought over his answer, and finally she smiled and nodded, "Yes," she answer, "That is correct. And if the city is lost, as a last resort there are several secret entrance tunnels throughout the city which resemble sewers, and each of them lead to a massive, hollowed out cavern where large battleships, barges and tall ships are moored. Several belong to the navy and can be used to evacuate the city, others belong to citizens and such are privately owned, others belong to merchants and other kingdoms on the continent who come to supply the city or bring their wares to sell at the market, and there are a few built simply for the kings pleasure to use when he feels like sailing. It's a final escape route incase the city is ever lost." Kanaahn couldn't help but be awed by how every little detail and possibility had been thought out and planned for. At the same time however, Kanaahn couldn't help but hope that those possibilities would never come to realization, and that the cities multiple defenses would never live up to what they were meant to do, for that would mean Supri Fothisevi would win, and the city would surely be lost. Kanaahn snapped back into reality and saw that they had almost reached the bridge. Kanaahn noticed that no one was lining up in front of the gate to get in and trade their goods in the markets as they had in front of Ethon. But he wasn't surprised; Angova had been completely evacuated just a few days ago so no one could be coming from there, and everyone else came by boat. Kanaahn wheeled the wagons forward towards the gates of the city. As he did, Kanaahn noticed that the walls were taller than he thought, they had to be at least 100 feet tall, and 20 feet thick, and had to had to be—from what Kanaahn could see—was made from thick, gray, polished stones that were fit together so well that not a single crack was visible between the bricks.

The gates were thick and wooden and braced from the front with large iron bars and thick iron bolts. A wrought iron gate with thick, heavy spikes and wide beams remained half opened above the gate, hanging ominously over the doorway as if ready to snap shut at any given moment like the mouth of a sleeping beast. As Kanaahn and the others wheeled their wagons into the Military District of Malatrion, they saw rows and rows of long, tall buildings made from stone and brick, with wooden roofs. The occasional smithy spotted the uniform rows of military barracks, and the sounds of the hammer on metal rattled and echoed all around Kanaahn. Several groups of soldiers marched throughout the streets going about their daily routines, sometimes led by men on horses or by constables with thick, heavy armor and red, plumes erupting from their helmets. Kanaahn had never seen a more respectful and dignified army before in his life, and apparently neither had the others, because he could've sworn he heard Arkas gasp and saw Shooter whistle in amazement.

The group could hear the sound of pounding swords on shields and weapons against wood; the thwack of an arrow hitting its mark. The sound of hooves on the ground followed by the braying and nickering of horses, and the sound of soldiers and constable shouting orders as they marched. As the group moved closer towards the next wall the ground began to slope—Kanaahn had noticed that the ground was all cobble stone and would occasionally be speckled with a patch of grass that was taken up by training grounds and horse yards—and the group moved up the large sloping hill towards the next door. Past the next seamless brick wall and wrought iron gates, the group found themselves in the Market District. It was loud and crowded, and people were yelling, livestock was mooing and oinking and clucking and quacking; children were crying, people were yelling and fighting. Kanaahn couldn't help but smile as he thought of the markets from back home in Küla, which—though much less crowded—were similar in sounds and images. Wooden stalls, carts with a storefront built into the back, and closely placed stone buildings with wool awnings. Kanaahn had to slow down the wagons in order to make their way through the crowd without harming anyone. The streets here were paved with cobblestones, and no trees or plants were visible at all in this district. Kanaahn was slightly annoyed by the length of time that it took for their wagons to pass through the crowds of people going about their daily business. It was almost 20 minutes before they could make their way up the sloping hill towards the next ring. After passing through another retaining wall, Kanaahn could see nothing of downwards sloping, vast fields. Kanaahn could see a windmill far to his left, and by his guess, the farming area of the city was the largest, spanning at least a mile and a half from one gate to the other.

Kanaahn could see some fields of livestock—horses, cows, sheep, swine, goats, chickens, geese, and ducks—as far as the eye could see. He could also see fields of golden wheat and corn and squash and many, many other vegetables Kanaahn had never even seen. It was now that Kanaahn could appreciate the beauty of cities organizational tiers. By far the wide opens fields were his favorite, they were as if he was actually out in the wide, vast of Asardaea that they had passed through on their way here. Kanaahn liked the wide-open fields; they were much less crowded than the military district and the market tier. After another 20 minutes, Kanaahn and the others finally passed through the next retaining wall, and found themselves in the second highest tier, the residential district. Kanaahn was amazed to see what he found: all of the buildings were built from shortest to tallest starting from the outer edge of the district—where the shorter houses were—to the center towards the palace—where the tallest buildings were. Each building had a roof that slanted downwards, parallel to the downward slope of the hill on which the city was built; and what was more, each roof was connected by a large, thick wooden beams, big enough for someone to walk across. Each roof was attached to each other, and Kanaahn was sure that if he could see the city from above while riding Djall, he would see a large interconnected web of houses.

It was now for the first time that Kanaahn noticed the archers on the roofs that Kyeit talked about. While looking up at the interconnected beams, Kanaahn could see several archers in light armor, walking around, patrolling the roofs. A few were even walking across the beams as Kanaahn passed beneath them. The residential district was fairly empty—mostly because they were all down in the market district doing their daily shopping—though a few people still remained. Most of them were children, or older members of the families that were no longer willing or able to make the trip down to the bustling markets and now vied to stay home and watch over their grandchildren or live the rest of their lives peacefully. Several children ran through the alleyway that Kanaahn had just passed by and ran across the street. He noticed they were playing with sticks as if they were swords, which brought a smile to Kanaahn's face. Shooter looked at Kanaahn with the same smile on his face, "Remember when we used to do that?" he asked. Kanaahn laughed, "Do I ever," he said, "I kicked your sorry ass again and again." Shooter raised an eyebrow with a lopsided grin, "Is that so?" he asked, "Then how come you always went home with more injuries than me?" "It's because _I _always kicked _both_ of your asses," said Arial as she poked her head out from behind Shooter. Kanaahn rolled his eyes, "Once," he said, "We let you win. I went home with more injuries because much like today, I never wore armor and I'm a reckless idiot who has no concern for his own personal well being."

Kanaahn was winded as he caught Kyeit's elbow to his ribs, as he coughed and tried to regain his breath, he saw—quickly out of the corner of his eye—someone standing in front of the wagon. Kanaahn caught the reigns fast and tugged hard and after a loud whinny from the horses, the wagon came to a hard stop. Shooter and Arkas did the same with their wagons—but unlike Kanaahn were able to stop better due to prior warning. Kanaahn looked down at the road and saw a group of soldiers with large, red plumes shooting from their polished silver helmets. Birds and lions were intricately inlaid in gold within their armor and each of them carried long, wooden spears that they kept pointed towards the sky, for now. Kanaahn looked towards the center of their group for their leader; he was a fairly tall man, in his mid to late fifties. He had shoulder length black hair that lay in loose, wavy curls. It was slicked back neatly and was streaked with lines of white and gray. He had a small mustache that was thin, and promptly ended in a small point at the corners of his mouth. His eyes were dark and serious, and his left eye—which Kanaahn just noticed—had a long vertical scar over it. His eyeball was pure white, and lacked a pupil or iris. But instead of scaring Kanaahn, it seemed to gain his respect more; this meant he was battle hardened. A veteran. The man's skin was much like Kanaahn's, not tanned, but not white; it was a creamy color in between, not unlike the desert sand of Altimara. The man wore black and red robes, fancy and decorated, with metal pauldrons around his shoulders, which were covered slightly by a long black and maroon cape. He had black armor greaves and black metal bracers with leather gloves over his hands. He wore a leather belt and baldric. The belt was emblazoned with a metal version of the symbol of Asardaea: two rearing and roaring lions facing each other with a sword in the middle. His baldric held a stiletto knife at the man's left side, and a long, thin rapier at his right.

Kanaahn was surprised to see that he was a left-handed swords man, but yet he used his knife with his right hand. It was probably special fighting tactic that the man had developed over the years, or maybe it was just a habit he started that he never got out of. Either way, this man seemed very interesting, and Kanaahn was willing to learn a lot from him if need be. "You are the Dragon Warrior, Kanaahn Saatus of Altimara, Rider of the Green Dragon Djall?" asked the man in a deep voice that pervaded the harsh, roughness of age and experience, and the calm, kind, likeable tone of a man who was speaking to his own children. Kanaahn nodded, surprised to hear that the mans voice had a slight accent to it, "That's me," he answered, but before he could go on the man continued. "These are your friends and fellow Warriors," he asked, "Arial Gainsborough of Altimara, Rider of the White Dragon Adalinda; Arkas Nazzer of Altimara, Rider of the Blue Dragon Fyete; Shooter Maxim of Altimara, Rider of the Red Dragon Risasi?" Kanaahn went to nod and answer but the man raised his hand, "That was not for you to answer, it is for your friends to confirm." Kanaahn blushed but nodded compliantly. "I am Arial Gainsborough of Altimara, Rider of the White Dragon Adalinda." Answered Arial. "And I am Arkas Nazzer of Altimara, Rider of the Blue Dragon Fyete." Answered Arkas nervously, yet calmer than Kanaahn had expected. Finally Shooter chimed in in answer, "I am Shooter Maxim of Altimara, Rider of the Red Dragon Risasi," he said, then he gave a lopsided smile, "And I am the strongest and most powerful of—"

The head of the soldiers glared at Shooter and then spoke softly, "Only your name will do," he said, "Foolish boy. If you don't stop acting like a foolish child you're going to end up dead one day." The man turned his scared eye towards Kyeit and scowled, "And this is Dragon Master of Kyeit Karaglen of Anglum, Rider of the Metallic Dragon Valence Daughter of Argentum and Master Under Argentum?" Kyeit nodded, remaining calm under the mans stern, hard gaze, "I am she," answered Kyeit, "But I shall not repeat my title to you as I see no need to utter simple titles just to prove my identity. Either you believe who I am or I shall have to prove it to you with pure power alone." Kanaahn withheld a smirk as Kyeit politely told the man to go fuck himself or she'd make him. The man glared Kyeit, but softened his stare and bowed to her, "Very well," he said, "Forgive me, milady. I did not to insult one of your position." The man then stood up and turned around, "Follow me," he said briskly and the soldiers surrounded Kanaahn and the group as they followed the scarred man towards the palace. As they walked, the man spoke, "I am Sir Cesaré of the Most Honorable House of Conoditiéré. High Commander of the Army of Asardaea," he said honorably, "And Honored Knight of the Realm. I have been sent by King Alexander Rupus, of the Royal House of Rupus, to bring you to the palace." "Titles are a very important here aren't they?" asked Kanaahn warily, hoping not to invoke Cesaré, "I mean, you seem to call everyone by their titles here."

Cesaré nodded, "Aye," he said roughly; "A name can make or break you in this city. Names and titles are _very_ important in Asardaea, and as long as you're here, you'll do best to remember such." Kanaahn was surprised that man hadn't totally snapped at him like he did with Shooter, whatever this meant, Kanaahn wasn't going to question it. The group neared the palace, and Cesaré shouted at the guards who watched the portcullis of the palace. "Open the gate!" he shouted, "Our guests are approaching!" "Yes, Sir Cesaré, right away!" shouted back the guard, "Open the gate!" The portcullis clinked as chains and ropes began to rattle and hum as the gate rose high above Kanaahn's head. As they entered the large courtyard of the palace, the wagons were lead off to the side and the guards dispersed. Kanaahn and the others removed themselves from the wagons as several stable boys began to bring the horses towards the stables. Cesaré walked the group towards the center of the courtyard where they waited in front of large oak doors. Kanaahn looked over at Cesaré and asked, "Who are we waiting for exactly?" he asked, "The King? Or someone else?" Cesaré shook his head, "You will see," he said, "Be patient." Suddenly, loud trumpets blared from within in the palace and from the walls around the courtyard and a herald from somewhere up high shouted, "All hail the arrival of her Most Exhaulted, Lady Cecil of Malatrion! Heir to the Throne of Asardaea! Daughter of Teskel the Strong and Seralda the Brave! Head of the House of Wenn! Dragon Master of Bronze! And Rider of the Bronze Dragon Kinokaze!" Shooter—who was drinking water from the water skin at the time—did a spit take and sprayed water everywhere—earning him a disgusted glare from Cesaré. Shooter continued to cough and choke on the water and everyone else was too bewildered to move; even Kyeit was surprised. "Lady?" asked Arial and Arkas in unison. "Cecil?" asked Kanaahn shortly after. And slowly, as the doors opened, the group saw Cecil, walking towards them with a group of soldiers. Lady Cecil of Malatrion, it was true.


	6. Chapter 4: The Fortress City, Malatrion

Chapter 4: The Fortress City of Malatrion

As the dragons raised their elevation and picked up speed to head towards the city—they decided to go on ahead and land in the stables to wait for the Warriors with Aes and Cecil had chosen to go with them—Kanaahn stared up in awe at the great city of Malatrion. They were only a kilometer from the city, but it stood out on the horizon like a beacon; the only bump in a wide, flat open field. From where he was, Kanaahn could see at least 10, large watch towards stick up from above the city, all at varying heights. Kanaahn could also see that the city sat upon a raise hill, and the buildings were building along the cliffs on tiers. Thick, red walls that were who knows how high, surrounded the outer most rim of the city, and each tier of the city afterwards were surrounded by similar—yet shorter—walls as well. In the very center of city, on the highest point, was a large, walled building with three large, spiraling towers erupting towards the sky. Kanaahn could see carvings, statues and figures on each of the towers, and he could also see they—like all the buildings in the city—were made of a thick, dark gray stone. The city looked like the ultimate fortress, and not like a city Kanaahn had ever seen before. It was definitely larger than Ethon—at least twice the size—and was about—from the stories Kanaahn had heard anyway—a third the size of Kasaadua, the black stone city that sat as the capitol of Altimara and the center of Tenebrae's evil rule. Kyeit smiled from behind Kanaahn and sat herself down beside him. "You think its beautiful now, wait until you get inside the walls." She said with a smile. Kanaahn looked at her and continued the horses forward towards the city.

"The city was built to be the ultimate fortress," said Kyeit as she pointed towards the city walls, "It was built long ago, but a great military leader who lead the people against the tyrant king. He marched on the capitol and dethroned the king, and the people made him their leader. The current king is his descendant; it's an old and ancient lineage. Once the military leader became king, he made a few modifications to the city. For example, the entire city was put on tiers and archers were placed on the roofs. The downward slope of the tiers allows for clear view of the city for the archers and ensures that those higher up will not hit civilians or houses. The castle was placed in the center of course and is large enough to house the entire city within its walls—in case of an attack they can safely protect everyone in the city. A wall guards each tier, the inner and outer most walls being the highest and thickest. Several watch towers and a lighthouse are placed throughout the city, and the three attached to the palace are keeps where dragons may stay when they need a place to rest. However, the best defensive tactic the new king implemented was digging Malatrion out from the surrounding land. If you walked right up to the city, you'd find yourself at a vertical drop and a cliff with sharp rocks and water below. It's a lagoon with an island in the middle, and on the island is the city."

Kanaahn looked puzzled, and before he could ask his question, Kyeit spoke again, "Bridges," she said, "Three bridges to be precise; one to the north, one to the east, and one to the west. They're large wooden bridges that are supported by wooden beams, which were hewn from the tallest, thickest and oldest trees in Asardaea. The bridges are lined with oil—meaning that some of the beams are hollow—so if need be, the bridges can be burnt to prevent attackers from reaching the city." "Then how to do they leave city to rebuild the bridges and gather supplies once the battle is over?" asked Kanaahn, "If their only means of getting in and out of the city is destroyed?" Kyeit smiled and looked towards the city, "There are rafts which they can use to get across the waters below, and there are set of stone steps hewed within the rock—like a tunnel—which heads up to the top of this side of the bridges. The entrance is covered by several feet of dirt, which requires some mining, but the city has the supplies to last them. You see, it's all the ways the tiers are organized which allows them to do so. The outermost ring contains all of the military barracks. Every soldier in the city lives within the outermost tier. The tier after that contains the markets; all of the shops are situated there, and all the buying, trading and selling goes on there. Then, the third tier has all the farms, where all the livestock and food is grown and raised. The fourth tier, the closest to the palace is the residential tier, and this is where everyone lives. Farmers, villagers, middle class and nobility, all live together in different sections of this tier. The inner most ring is the palace. From this layout, can you tell why the city was situated the way it was?"

Kanaahn thought for a moment, and then another moment, and he kept thinking, adding everything together and thinking of every possible, logical reason for why the city was built like this. Then he answered, "The city is built in tiers, for the reasons you said, to better protect the city and to help the archers on the roofs defend the city from attackers. And also because it's harder to wheel siege engines like battering rams and catapults up a hill than it is to bring them across a flat surface. Each tier is walled as to protect those who live within, and if the one of the walls is breached, they can pull the people behind the next set of walls for safety. The outer most tier houses the military so that they can easily be the first responders to an attack from the outside of the city instead of having to rush from the center of the city through panicking crowds. It also gives the other tiers some protection, because the enemy will have to fight their way through the outer wall, the wall that guards the second tier, and the soldiers of the city. The next tier has all the markets because the markets can easily be lost or destroyed in battle with minimal casualties; as long as the people don't live there they can afford to loose it. Which is why the next tier is farms and the one after is residential. The farms are close to the markets so that trading is easier for the farmers, and they're within the city so that when people attack they don't burn the farms down and destroy Malatrion's only source of food. So technically, as long as they can keep the enemy outside of the city or at least the farming tier, they can last forever because they'll still have a reproducing food supply. Then afterwards is the residential tier because people are more important than livestock and food in the long run, and if the farm tier is taken, Malatrion can always rely on their food caches to supply the people for as long as they'll last. It also saves the farmers from being killed when the farms are taken, because they all live within the same tier with the nobility and merchants and such. All the people live together so that they can easily be recalled to the palace without having to scramble through a battle field to reach the center of the city—they're all already beside the palace. Also, making people of different wealth and status live together allows for mingling between the rich and poor and allows for comradery between all citizens regardless of how rich or poor they are. And finally, the palace, which is the last line of defense against attackers; it's meant to house all the citizens of the city so that they'll be safe if the enemy takes all the other tiers."

There was a pause as Kyeit thought over his answer, and finally she smiled and nodded, "Yes," she answer, "That is correct. And if the city is lost, as a last resort there are several secret entrance tunnels throughout the city which resemble sewers, and each of them lead to a massive, hollowed out cavern where large battleships, barges and tall ships are moored. Several belong to the navy and can be used to evacuate the city, others belong to citizens and such are privately owned, others belong to merchants and other kingdoms on the continent who come to supply the city or bring their wares to sell at the market, and there are a few built simply for the kings pleasure to use when he feels like sailing. It's a final escape route incase the city is ever lost." Kanaahn couldn't help but be awed by how every little detail and possibility had been thought out and planned for. At the same time however, Kanaahn couldn't help but hope that those possibilities would never come to realization, and that the cities multiple defenses would never live up to what they were meant to do, for that would mean Supri Fothisevi would win, and the city would surely be lost. Kanaahn snapped back into reality and saw that they had almost reached the bridge. Kanaahn noticed that no one was lining up in front of the gate to get in and trade their goods in the markets as they had in front of Ethon. But he wasn't surprised; Angova had been completely evacuated just a few days ago so no one could be coming from there, and everyone else came by boat. Kanaahn wheeled the wagons forward towards the gates of the city. As he did, Kanaahn noticed that the walls were taller than he thought, they had to be at least 100 feet tall, and 20 feet thick, and had to had to be—from what Kanaahn could see—was made from thick, gray, polished stones that were fit together so well that not a single crack was visible between the bricks.

The gates were thick and wooden and braced from the front with large iron bars and thick iron bolts. A wrought iron gate with thick, heavy spikes and wide beams remained half opened above the gate, hanging ominously over the doorway as if ready to snap shut at any given moment like the mouth of a sleeping beast. As Kanaahn and the others wheeled their wagons into the Military District of Malatrion, they saw rows and rows of long, tall buildings made from stone and brick, with wooden roofs. The occasional smithy spotted the uniform rows of military barracks, and the sounds of the hammer on metal rattled and echoed all around Kanaahn. Several groups of soldiers marched throughout the streets going about their daily routines, sometimes led by men on horses or by constables with thick, heavy armor and red, plumes erupting from their helmets. Kanaahn had never seen a more respectful and dignified army before in his life, and apparently neither had the others, because he could've sworn he heard Arkas gasp and saw Shooter whistle in amazement.

The group could hear the sound of pounding swords on shields and weapons against wood; the thwack of an arrow hitting its mark. The sound of hooves on the ground followed by the braying and nickering of horses, and the sound of soldiers and constable shouting orders as they marched. As the group moved closer towards the next wall the ground began to slope—Kanaahn had noticed that the ground was all cobble stone and would occasionally be speckled with a patch of grass that was taken up by training grounds and horse yards—and the group moved up the large sloping hill towards the next door. Past the next seamless brick wall and wrought iron gates, the group found themselves in the Market District. It was loud and crowded, and people were yelling, livestock was mooing and oinking and clucking and quacking; children were crying, people were yelling and fighting. Kanaahn couldn't help but smile as he thought of the markets from back home in Küla, which—though much less crowded—were similar in sounds and images. Wooden stalls, carts with a storefront built into the back, and closely placed stone buildings with wool awnings. Kanaahn had to slow down the wagons in order to make their way through the crowd without harming anyone. The streets here were paved with cobblestones, and no trees or plants were visible at all in this district. Kanaahn was slightly annoyed by the length of time that it took for their wagons to pass through the crowds of people going about their daily business. It was almost 20 minutes before they could make their way up the sloping hill towards the next ring. After passing through another retaining wall, Kanaahn could see nothing of downwards sloping, vast fields. Kanaahn could see a windmill far to his left, and by his guess, the farming area of the city was the largest, spanning at least a mile and a half from one gate to the other.

Kanaahn could see some fields of livestock—horses, cows, sheep, swine, goats, chickens, geese, and ducks—as far as the eye could see. He could also see fields of golden wheat and corn and squash and many, many other vegetables Kanaahn had never even seen. It was now that Kanaahn could appreciate the beauty of cities organizational tiers. By far the wide opens fields were his favorite, they were as if he was actually out in the wide, vast of Asardaea that they had passed through on their way here. Kanaahn liked the wide-open fields; they were much less crowded than the military district and the market tier. After another 20 minutes, Kanaahn and the others finally passed through the next retaining wall, and found themselves in the second highest tier, the residential district. Kanaahn was amazed to see what he found: all of the buildings were built from shortest to tallest starting from the outer edge of the district—where the shorter houses were—to the center towards the palace—where the tallest buildings were. Each building had a roof that slanted downwards, parallel to the downward slope of the hill on which the city was built; and what was more, each roof was connected by a large, thick wooden beams, big enough for someone to walk across. Each roof was attached to each other, and Kanaahn was sure that if he could see the city from above while riding Djall, he would see a large interconnected web of houses.

It was now for the first time that Kanaahn noticed the archers on the roofs that Kyeit talked about. While looking up at the interconnected beams, Kanaahn could see several archers in light armor, walking around, patrolling the roofs. A few were even walking across the beams as Kanaahn passed beneath them. The residential district was fairly empty—mostly because they were all down in the market district doing their daily shopping—though a few people still remained. Most of them were children, or older members of the families that were no longer willing or able to make the trip down to the bustling markets and now vied to stay home and watch over their grandchildren or live the rest of their lives peacefully. Several children ran through the alleyway that Kanaahn had just passed by and ran across the street. He noticed they were playing with sticks as if they were swords, which brought a smile to Kanaahn's face. Shooter looked at Kanaahn with the same smile on his face, "Remember when we used to do that?" he asked. Kanaahn laughed, "Do I ever," he said, "I kicked your sorry ass again and again." Shooter raised an eyebrow with a lopsided grin, "Is that so?" he asked, "Then how come you always went home with more injuries than me?" "It's because _I _always kicked _both_ of your asses," said Arial as she poked her head out from behind Shooter. Kanaahn rolled his eyes, "Once," he said, "We let you win. I went home with more injuries because much like today, I never wore armor and I'm a reckless idiot who has no concern for his own personal well being."

Kanaahn was winded as he caught Kyeit's elbow to his ribs, as he coughed and tried to regain his breath, he saw—quickly out of the corner of his eye—someone standing in front of the wagon. Kanaahn caught the reigns fast and tugged hard and after a loud whinny from the horses, the wagon came to a hard stop. Shooter and Arkas did the same with their wagons—but unlike Kanaahn were able to stop better due to prior warning. Kanaahn looked down at the road and saw a group of soldiers with large, red plumes shooting from their polished silver helmets. Birds and lions were intricately inlaid in gold within their armor and each of them carried long, wooden spears that they kept pointed towards the sky, for now. Kanaahn looked towards the center of their group for their leader; he was a fairly tall man, in his mid to late fifties. He had shoulder length black hair that lay in loose, wavy curls. It was slicked back neatly and was streaked with lines of white and gray. He had a small mustache that was thin, and promptly ended in a small point at the corners of his mouth. His eyes were dark and serious, and his left eye—which Kanaahn just noticed—had a long vertical scar over it. His eyeball was pure white, and lacked a pupil or iris. But instead of scaring Kanaahn, it seemed to gain his respect more; this meant he was battle hardened. A veteran. The man's skin was much like Kanaahn's, not tanned, but not white; it was a creamy color in between, not unlike the desert sand of Altimara. The man wore black and red robes, fancy and decorated, with metal pauldrons around his shoulders, which were covered slightly by a long black and maroon cape. He had black armor greaves and black metal bracers with leather gloves over his hands. He wore a leather belt and baldric. The belt was emblazoned with a metal version of the symbol of Asardaea: two rearing and roaring lions facing each other with a sword in the middle. His baldric held a stiletto knife at the man's left side, and a long, thin rapier at his right.

Kanaahn was surprised to see that he was a left-handed swords man, but yet he used his knife with his right hand. It was probably special fighting tactic that the man had developed over the years, or maybe it was just a habit he started that he never got out of. Either way, this man seemed very interesting, and Kanaahn was willing to learn a lot from him if need be. "You are the Dragon Warrior, Kanaahn Saatus of Altimara, Rider of the Green Dragon Djall?" asked the man in a deep voice that pervaded the harsh, roughness of age and experience, and the calm, kind, likeable tone of a man who was speaking to his own children. Kanaahn nodded, surprised to hear that the mans voice had a slight accent to it, "That's me," he answered, but before he could go on the man continued. "These are your friends and fellow Warriors," he asked, "Arial Gainsborough of Altimara, Rider of the White Dragon Adalinda; Arkas Nazzer of Altimara, Rider of the Blue Dragon Fyete; Shooter Maxim of Altimara, Rider of the Red Dragon Risasi?" Kanaahn went to nod and answer but the man raised his hand, "That was not for you to answer, it is for your friends to confirm." Kanaahn blushed but nodded compliantly. "I am Arial Gainsborough of Altimara, Rider of the White Dragon Adalinda." Answered Arial. "And I am Arkas Nazzer of Altimara, Rider of the Blue Dragon Fyete." Answered Arkas nervously, yet calmer than Kanaahn had expected. Finally Shooter chimed in in answer, "I am Shooter Maxim of Altimara, Rider of the Red Dragon Risasi," he said, then he gave a lopsided smile, "And I am the strongest and most powerful of—"

The head of the soldiers glared at Shooter and then spoke softly, "Only your name will do," he said, "Foolish boy. If you don't stop acting like a foolish child you're going to end up dead one day." The man turned his scared eye towards Kyeit and scowled, "And this is Dragon Master of Kyeit Karaglen of Anglum, Rider of the Metallic Dragon Valence Daughter of Argentum and Master Under Argentum?" Kyeit nodded, remaining calm under the mans stern, hard gaze, "I am she," answered Kyeit, "But I shall not repeat my title to you as I see no need to utter simple titles just to prove my identity. Either you believe who I am or I shall have to prove it to you with pure power alone." Kanaahn withheld a smirk as Kyeit politely told the man to go fuck himself or she'd make him. The man glared Kyeit, but softened his stare and bowed to her, "Very well," he said, "Forgive me, milady. I did not to insult one of your position." The man then stood up and turned around, "Follow me," he said briskly and the soldiers surrounded Kanaahn and the group as they followed the scarred man towards the palace. As they walked, the man spoke, "I am Sir Cesaré of the Most Honorable House of Conoditiéré. High Commander of the Army of Asardaea," he said honorably, "And Honored Knight of the Realm. I have been sent by King Alexander Rupus, of the Royal House of Rupus, to bring you to the palace." "Titles are a very important here aren't they?" asked Kanaahn warily, hoping not to invoke Cesaré, "I mean, you seem to call everyone by their titles here."

Cesaré nodded, "Aye," he said roughly; "A name can make or break you in this city. Names and titles are _very_ important in Asardaea, and as long as you're here, you'll do best to remember such." Kanaahn was surprised that man hadn't totally snapped at him like he did with Shooter, whatever this meant, Kanaahn wasn't going to question it. The group neared the palace, and Cesaré shouted at the guards who watched the portcullis of the palace. "Open the gate!" he shouted, "Our guests are approaching!" "Yes, Sir Cesaré, right away!" shouted back the guard, "Open the gate!" The portcullis clinked as chains and ropes began to rattle and hum as the gate rose high above Kanaahn's head. As they entered the large courtyard of the palace, the wagons were lead off to the side and the guards dispersed. Kanaahn and the others removed themselves from the wagons as several stable boys began to bring the horses towards the stables. Cesaré walked the group towards the center of the courtyard where they waited in front of large oak doors. Kanaahn looked over at Cesaré and asked, "Who are we waiting for exactly?" he asked, "The King? Or someone else?" Cesaré shook his head, "You will see," he said, "Be patient." Suddenly, loud trumpets blared from within in the palace and from the walls around the courtyard and a herald from somewhere up high shouted, "All hail the arrival of her Most Exhaulted, Lady Cecil of Malatrion! Heir to the Throne of Asardaea! Daughter of Teskel the Strong and Seralda the Brave! Head of the House of Wenn! Dragon Master of Bronze! And Rider of the Bronze Dragon Kinokaze!" Shooter—who was drinking water from the water skin at the time—did a spit take and sprayed water everywhere—earning him a disgusted glare from Cesaré. Shooter continued to cough and choke on the water and everyone else was too bewildered to move; even Kyeit was surprised. "Lady?" asked Arial and Arkas in unison. "Cecil?" asked Kanaahn shortly after. And slowly, as the doors opened, the group saw Cecil, walking towards them with a group of soldiers. Lady Cecil of Malatrion, it was true.


	7. Chapter 5: Lady Cecil of Malatrion

Chapter 5: Lady Cecil of Malatrion

Kanaahn couldn't believe it, Cecil was nobility. I mean, he had guessed that something was up by the way she seemed so uncomfortable with being in Asardaea, but he never guessed Asardaea. Kanaahn just thought she killed someone important and was in hiding, then again…that didn't quite sound like Cecil. Cecil entered the courtyard through the large oak doors; she was wearing an emerald green dress with long, slitted, sleeves and gold embroised patterns like vines all over. The edges and hem of the dress were also gold. Her hair was no longer loose and flowing as it had once been, but was now plaited neatly, so that no hair escaped the intricate braid that sat on her left shoulder. Around her head, Kanaahn could see a golden band with a single, small sapphire set in the very center so that it sat in the center of her forehead. Cecil's arms were covered in several golden bangles and bracelets. Cecil bowed politely to her friends—hiding her face, which Kanaahn was sure was pink by now—and ushered for them to follow her. Cesaré gave one final bow Cecil before departing back off towards the city and the Warriors followed Cecil through the great oak doors. Walking through the threshold, Kanaahn could see that the doors were a good foot thick, and at least 50 feet high. A large, heavy portcullis could be seen way up above on the outside of the door. Kanaahn was sure that these doors—like the portcullis above—were operated by some sort of pulley system by several burly men, because no one of normal strength could open these doors as a normal door would open. As the group stepped into the entrance hall, Kanaahn could see that the ceiling was high, and arched, and as tall as the doors. Large, iron chandeliers with fresh candles hung high above their heads, and a satin, red with gold trim carpet covered the entire span of the entrance way—which Kanaahn was sure was at least half as wide as it was tall and could fit all of the dragons as long as they walked single file—except for a small edge between the wall and carpet which revealed an inch and a half of stone.

The carpet was continuous and stretched off into the two half sized hallways at both the left and right of the entrance hall. Kanaahn could see a small set of raised steps which lead to a similar sized door to the one Kanaahn had just entered through at the far end of the hall. "What exactly is the population of this city again?" Kanaahn whispered to Kyeit. Kyeit smiled, "About 13 000," she said, "Not including the merchants who travel here from abroad, the military, or the palace and those who live within in it." Kanaahn restricted a whistle of amazement, "How many including?" he asked intently. "20 000, roughly" said Kyeit in a nonchalant tone. Kanaahn was amazed, he had never before imagined a palace that could house 20 000 people at once if need be. "Well there are several levels below the palace as well as several floors above this one." Said Cecil with a smile as if reading Kanaahn's mind, "Three floors below us not including the catacombs and dungeons, and 5 above us.

Again Kanaahn was amazed, he wondered how much gold it took to build the palace let alone the rest of the city. "Cecil, how come you didn't tell us about all of this?" asked Arkas suddenly. Cecil blushed but simply said, "This is not the time for answers, there will come a time when I will tell you. But it is not now." From the on she said nothing as she lead them towards the second set of great oak doors at the other end of the entrance hall. The doors creaked open as soon as the group came before them to reveal a stone courtyard, much smaller than one they had entered through, but still big enough for the group and a few other people. In the center of the courtyard, Kanaahn could see a red hair man fighting sword fighting with two other people, both of whom had white hair—one male, one female. Kanaahn assumed they were the Tsuru siblings sent here to work under Aes, and the man fighting them would be the King; King Alexander Rupus. Kanaahn looked up to ask Cecil a question, but found that she had already disappeared. A little confused as what to do, Kanaahn and the other approached Alexander, and after a low bow, announced their presence.

Alexander stopped fighting immediately—Kanaahn noticed he fought with a large, two-handed broad sword that was as thick as Kanaahn's thigh—and looked at them. There was a long pause that followed, in which Kanaahn took the time to examine the king. The king was a large, burly, well muscled, man. His chest was so wide that Kanaahn would need to stand side to side with someone else in order to match it. His hands and feet were both large, and the man was very tall. Kanaahn was almost 6 feet tall, and still he only reached the king's chest with the top of his head. His arms were covered in several cuts and scars that had all healed over and had no doubt accumulated over time and after several battles. Alexander had a strong-featured face, with a strong, muscled, chiseled jaw, a strong nose, and thick, inward slanted eyebrows. The king had wavy red hair that was pushed back, his hair was connected to thick, mutton chop sideburns, which themselves continued into a thick beard which lined the edge of his jaw and chin. Despite his strong, gargantuan features, he had a kind, gentle smile and warm, maroon eyes. The king's wardrobe was simple, but yet, intricate at the same time. It consisted of a silver chest plate that covered his body above his waist. Every muscle of his body was molded perfectly into the chest plate so that it appeared as if it was part of his skin. The king also wore skirt that went down to just past his ankles and parted in a slight opening down the front. Over the skirt were several linked, plates of silver metal, which Kanaahn believed were attached to the skirt. The edge of the maroon skirt was embroidered with golden patterns much like Cecil's dress had been. The man wore simple leather sandals with a Y-strap between his first and second toe. Kanaahn could see leather greaves around the king's calves with thick rims of fur around covering the end around his ankles. The king had similar braces around his forearms; they were leather with several intricate patterns inlaid into them and thick, fur linings around both ends.

The king finally answered their bow and introduction with a booming laugh. His voice was deep, slow, strong, king, powerful, and ground shaking all at the same time. "Welcome Warriors!" he boomed happily, "I've been wondering when you'd arrive to meet me. Though, I'll admit, this is sooner than I expected. Had I known you'd be coming I would've sent the royal guards to greet you at the gates and give you a full tour of the city." "Well, we didn't expect to be this rushed either," he said, "But there are circumstances that have forced us to double our travel speed." Alexander smiled, "Of course," he said, "Supri Fothisevi if I'm correct?" Kyeit nodded, "He has chased us here to the city," she said, "And he plans to kills us all." Alexander raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Is that so? Well, once I'm through training you, we'll see just how easy it is for him to do that. Meet me in the throne room in a few minutes; the Geki and Kasu will lead you there. I must prepare a lesson!" With that, Alexander sheathed his broadsword and bounded off into the palace. One of the two Tsuru siblings—the male—walked forward, and after a quick bow said, "He is ever the enthusiast," he said as he walked the group towards doors Alexander had just disappeared through, "He has been waiting for this for a long time. Which reminds me, I'm Geki, Geki Tsuru."

Kanaahn and the others bowed, and greeted him in turn. Geki had cream-colored skin, and snow-white hair, just as the rest of his siblings did. He was well built, had small yellow eyes, and his hair was short and spiked back, and he had a long, thin, ankle length pony tail, which fell down his back. Around his forehead he wore a white strip of cloth, and he also wore a sleeveless, skintight black shirt, as well as white, baggy pants that tightened around the ankles and was held up by a red sash tied around his waist. Geki's arms were bare except for golden bracers that he wore on his forearms, which were covered with white, cloth bracers. He wore black cloth around his feet and over his calves he wore more gold bracers, which were again covered in white cloth bracers. Across his back he wore a longbow that was almost as tall as he was—Geki was an equal height to Kanaahn—and across his left thigh was tied a long, leather quiver that held long arrows which were painted a golden, yellow. Kasu introduced herself next, she was only shoulder length to Geki, but seemed strong nonetheless. She had paler skin than Geki, and her hair was waist length, and hung down in long, loose curls. She had large, soft, purple eyes—one of which was covered by thick locks of her hair—and around her neck she wore a long, yellow scarf. Kasu was well figured, and a wide strip of black cloth covered her chest. Over the black cloth, Kasu wore a long sleeved, white robe. The robe had reb lapels and was tied together by two strings that met at her right hip. Kasu wore knee length, red pants with slits up the outside of the calf, and red sandals. Across her back was a large, red, teardrop shaped gourd with several black lines drawn over it in curves and twists. She also wore red fingerless gloves with a metal plate across the back of her hands and four metal spikes on each of her knuckles.

Geki and Kasu led the group back into the castle, "His Majesty, King Alexander would like us to take you to your rooms so you may relax and freshen up," said Kasu softly, "A meal will be brought to you as you relax, and afterwards you will begin your training." Kanaahn nodded and placed a hand on his sword, "I'm looking forward to it," he said, "I could use a bit more training." Kyeit shot a look at him, and he softened a look towards her in return, "I don't want to loose against Supri Fothisevi again, and I doubt Malatrion wants to suffer the same fate as Ethon." Kyeit's worry abated and she channeled her focus elsewhere. "No, we do not," answered Geki, "I can assure you of that much. This ancient city has not once been defeated while on the defense." Shooter shrugged, "They said the same about Ethon, but in the matter of a second the castle was gone—" Shooter snapped his fingers "—Like that. And once the palace fell, the city came down with it."

The group remained silent as they reentered the entrance hall and moved towards the left hallway. The ceilings in this hallway were high, and the floor was made of marble. Paintings of past kings and their families hung on the walls, and a statue or potted urn marked each corner. Finally, after about three lefts, two rights and spiraled staircase later, the group found themselves standing in a narrow hallway with several wooden doors lining the walls. Torches sat in iron brackets, burning quietly and lighting the room magnificently. The light of the flames bounced off of the polished marble floor, and the golden doorframes. The ceiling was made of gold and inlaid with jade that composed several beautiful, detailed dragons in the ceiling. "Here is where we leave you," said Geki, "We will be seeing you soon. Kyeit would you come with us please? You are needed by Aes, he requests your presence." Kyeit nodded, "Of course," she said with a small bow, and with that, Geki, Kyeit and Kasu walked back down the stairs and they were gone. Kanaahn turned to Arial, "What do you think?" he asked, "Should we freshen up or try to find Cecil? She said she wanted to talk to us after." "You won't need to look far," said a voice which made Kanaahn and the others turn around. There, in the doorway of the room at the opposite end of the stairs, stood Cecil, dressed still in her emerald green dress. Her hair had been removed from its braid, and hung neatly around her shoulders, and down to her waist. The golden band with the jewel still rested on her forehead. She seemed very regal, so much so that Kanaahn felt like bowing.

Arkas was speechless as he looked at Cecil; he felt like collapsing, she was so beautiful. "Come in," she said as she opened the door wider, "Have a seat by the fire, so we can talk." Kanaahn, Arial, Shooter and Arkas all looked at each other and then followed Cecil into her room. The door that they entered led to a large, stone common room with two doors that lead to other rooms on the opposite walls. The floors were covered in fur rugs, the walls were covered in tapestries, and a large sofa, and two armchairs sat in front of a large, burning fireplace against the opposite wall. Cecil sat down in own of the armchairs in a delicate fashion, while Kanaahn, Arkas and Shooter claimed the couch, and Arial sat herself in the empty armchair opposite Cecil. There was a silence that filled the room, broken only by the cracking and popping of the wood in the fire. Finally Shooter spoke, "So care to explain what's going on?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, you see," answered Cecil, "I'm the crown princess of Asardaea." No one gasped or seemed shocked, they had already gotten over the initial shock, and this was just a confirmation.

After a few more minutes of silence Kanaahn asked, "So then Alexander is your father?" Cecil smiled but shook her head, "No, no, not at all." She said, "He's my uncle. I suppose I should fill you all in on the whole story?" Arial nodded, "That would help, yes." She answered politely. Cecil nodded shyly and then brought herself in a sense of confidence, something that Kanaahn had never seen in her before, she always seemed so withdrawn before now. "It was my mother that was queen," she started, "Uncle Alexander is her brother, therefore my uncle. In Asardaea the eldest child takes the throne, regardless of gender, but if a female takes the throne, her husband becomes king consort—which is what my father was—and he takes our family name, Rupus. My ancestor King Leandros, the one who dethroned the tyrant king and rebuilt Malatrion, instated that as a royal law, so prevent our family name from dying out, and to keep our family on the throne for good." "So why is your uncle on the throne and not your mother? Or you?" asked Kanaahn. Cecil's posture shrunk a little, but she kept her confidence, "My parents are dead," she said, "They died when I was nine. My mother used to be the Dragon Master under Aes, before the Kothar killed her. She and my father were out on a mission with the Dragon Master under Aeramen, because my mother preferred to be active despite her royal duties, and they were killed. After their death, Aes took on my uncle Alexander as his new Dragon Master, because Aes helped train my uncle when he was younger, and the two always saw eye to eye with things. But Aes knew how much I wanted to fill in my mothers shoes, so he asked Aeramen to take me in and train me to be Dragon Master. The only problem there was who would take the throne? I was an only child, and the only, and rightful heir. But luckily for me I was too young, so Alexander took the throne until such time I came of age…"

"You're of age now aren't you?" asked Shooter, "So why haven't you come back?" Cecil lowered her head a bit, "I came of age two years ago at fourteen," she said quietly, "But I never came back. I took my father's last name so that no one would recognize me and I avoided this place like the plague until now. I never wanted to be queen of Asardaea, not yet, I just wanted to be free for now, and go out and live my life, get to see the world, travel, go on adventures, meet the Dragon Warriors, and maybe fall in love…and then settle down and be crowned, and raise a family. Up until now, I've been too busy with missions for Aeramen for Alexander to call me back—he, like my mother before him, has been grooming me to be queen since birth—so he altered the agreement for me to return as soon as Tenebrae was defeated. The problem is…I never thought we actually _find_ the Warriors, not in my lifetime anyway. I mean, it has been one hundred thousand years since the last five people compatible with the Chosen Eggs, and no one before you guys had found them. I thought I would get a chance to do what I dreamed before becoming queen, but then I heard you guys were found, and since then I've been dreading the day when this journey with you would end and I would have to come back here. That's why I agreed to join you guys on your quest, I figured if I wouldn't have the rest of my life to do what I had always dreamed, I could tag along with you and do it then, while also performing my duty." There was another pause of silence, and then Arkas spoke, "You're still going to travel with us though, aren't you?" He seemed worried, but tried to hide it.

"Yes," she said, "I think so. My uncle is a man of his word, so he should at least allow me the chance to keep travelling with you…at least until the Black City is taken, and then I must head back here. But for now, I can spend more time with you all." Arkas felt a wave of relief wash over him, he was happy that Cecil would be sticking around, but it meant he had limited time to make his move. "So, onto another question," said Shooter, "Why do they call this the Warrior's Wing?" Cecil seemed to welcome the change of topic as she happily answered, "It was built at the time of the first Warriors, the ones before you," she said, "It was so the Warriors would always have a place to stay when they came to visit. There are two extra rooms, incase they bring guests. This room has always been mine though—" she chuckled "—I moved in here when I was three, my parents let me alone, and I went on a tour of the castle on my own. I found this room, and I fell in love with the look, so I decided to move in here. It just happened to work out perfectly that you all would be staying down the hall from me as well." There was a knock at the door, just as Arkas was about to ask a question, followed by Kyeit's voice, "Let's go guys," she said, "Aes has requested your presence, best not to keep him waiting." Everyone looked at each other, and then back to Cecil, hoping to ask more questions, but figured it was best to keep it for later, one of the five most powerful dragons is not meant to be kept waiting. They all exited the room and Kyeit walked over to Kanaahn, "So, how'd it go?" she asked. Kanaahn nodded, "She told us everything," he said, "I assume you already know?" Kyeit nodded, "Yeah, she did," she answered, "I wish I could've been there to hear it again myself, but my duties…Cecil luckily already had her briefing with Aes, so it was just me he needed to see. I can never get tired of Cecil's story it's…unique in a way. I'm not sure if that's wrong but it's true." Kanaahn nodded, "I understand," he said, "Did you tell him what Kinokaze told us on the way here?" Kyeit shook her head, "No, I haven't, I thought I'd wait about that one…" she answered. Kanaahn chuckled as the group exited the spiraling staircase and went down one of the long halls, "That's probably best…" he said. Kyeit gave a nod of agreement, and the rest of the trip to Aes was silent from there on in. Everyone was nervous, as they were about to have their fifth meeting with fate.


	8. Chapter 6: Aes of Copper

Chapter 6: Aes of Copper

Kanaahn and the others were lead up a large set of spiral steps to the top of one of the palace's thickest towers. At the top was a large, wooden door with a big iron bolt on it. After a minute of waiting for Kyeit to enter and re-exit the room, the group was finally let through. They found themselves in a high-ceilinged, and heavily lit room with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling with glittering crystal strands attached to them, and several, red silk drapes and carpets adorning the floors and walls. In the center of the room sat Aes, quiet, stoic and grand. Kanaahn, Arkas, Arial and Shooter lined up in front of the great dragons while Kyeit and Cecil joined King Alexander and the Tsuru's beside him. There was a long pause, and all was silent, Kanaahn and the others were too afraid to say anything, neither did Aes say anything himself. Kanaahn could feel the tension in the air, and he felt like a child that was about to be scorned by his parents. Even though he and the others had done nothing wrong, he could not help but feel guilty for something; and Kanaahn had a feeling it was because of Aes's deep, scanning stare. Finally, after several minutes of silence, Aes spoke, "You are late," he said in a deep, but soft voice. Kanaahn felt the guilt grow, "But—" he started, but Aes shot a glare at him and cut him off. "There are no excuses…you are late." He said simply, "We were expecting you here much sooner…and with all the minutes you've wasted since you've arrived as well, I'm surprised Supri Fothisevi isn't breaking down our gates by now or worse." "But sir you must understand—" started Arial desperately. "Enough!" said Aes with a slightly raised voice, he rose up to his full height and spread his wings. Just as he reached his height apex, he fell to the ground laughing; shaking the entire tower.

Arial, Arkas, Kanaahn and Shooter looked at each other in confusion, while Alexander, Kyeit and Cecil laughed with Aes. The Tsuru's chuckled, but kept themselves mostly complacent to their quiet natures. Finally, as Aes calmed down, he looked up at Kanaahn and the others with a smile, and spoke in the same deep voice, but with a much softer and kinder tone to it. "I'm sorry to deceive you like that Warriors," he said with a heavy sigh, "But I just can't resist a good joke. It's in the nature for a Brass dragon, you see. Anyway, welcome young Warriors, we have been waiting for you." Kanaahn smiled a little, as did the others, and they gave a small bow. Aes smiled kindly, "The bow is not necessary, I'm not usually one for formalities." Aes stood up stretched, and then relaxed upon the stone ground with a yawn. "Forgive me, for my relaxed disposition, I have just returned from the Daron Headquarters. I was helping Orichalum, Argentum and Thrae evacuate Angova and relocate them to the Daron Headquarters. We had them meet up with Leon and the Ethonian refugees, and then escorted all of them to the Headquarters in Anglum. These are dark times I'm afraid, ones to rival the Blood Wars sixteen years ago, but I digress. Forgive me."

Arial nodded with a smile, "It's fine," she said happily—as her face had lit up at the mention of Leon—"If I may ask? If Leon alright and safe?" Aes smiled as if he knew something that no one else did, and Arial suspected he knew about her and Leon, but she kept her mouth shut. "Yes," said Aes still smiling like a child, "He is very safe, and he shall be so long as he remains at the Daron Headquarters, that place is unassailable, Tenebrae's armies will not follow them there." Arial seemed to relax a little at that news, and allowed Aes to continue. "Now," continued Aes, "We must discuss the course your training will take, you see with Supri Fothisevi closing in on the city with each day, your time here is going to be much shorter than we expected. We cannot teach you everything we planned, so we must decide what to teach you that will be beneficial for you in the upcoming battles, and we will do that by discerning what you've learnt so far. Anything we think necessary to learn and quick for you to grasp will be taught, anything else you will have to learn either on your own time, or from the Dragon Master's later on. So show and tell me, one by one, what you've learned." The group looked at each other, deciding who should go first. After a few minutes of silent debate and arguing, Arial decided to go first, knowing her show would take the longest. "And what have you learned Arial Gainsborough?" asked Aes. "I've learnt a lot of magic," she said, "That is to say, basic magic, as well as the some of the Tsuru's special branches of magic. I've learnt Restorative Magic, and am currently learning Plant and Earth magic." Aes nodded, "Could you please show me some examples of each?" he asked. Arial nodded, and then in succession used three spells. For the first one she said, "Waph!" which caused a plant in the back of the circular room to come back to life. For the second she said, "Shartleg ekess edar!" which caused the soil to condense into rocks and then reform into fresh, moist soil. And for the third she said "Oontax!" Which caused the plant to into a large creeping vine that crawled up the stone, walls to the ceiling.

Aes seemed pleased, but frowned slightly, "I always did mean to tend to those plants," he defended, "Honest. I just never had time…" Everyone couldn't help but smile a little, and Arial stepped back, letting Shooter go up next. Shooter smiled his lopsided smile and put his hands in the pockets of his overcoat. "And you, young Warrior, what do you know so far?" asked Aes. Shooter pulled four knives from his coat and tossed them in the air, catching them with precision—two in each hand—he twirled them about, making the metal look as if it was dancing. When he finished he retracted three of the blades, returned them and threw one of them square in the center of a large shield that was hanging on the far wall. Aes smiled and sat up on his hind legs with interest, "If I had hands I would clap," he said smiling, "And if my tail wasn't so large and heavy and would break through the floor, I'd use that to clap instead. Do you know any magic? Or perhaps other forms of fighting?" Shooter thought for a second, then answered, "I don't know magic, however my skill with a sword is fair enough—perhaps not as good as it should be, since I prefer my knives above all—but fair enough." Aes nodded, "Very well, who is next?" This time Arkas went up, and probably for the first time in his life, with some hint of self confidence and assurance, and gave a low bow and a hello—which to Arkas's credit, was a lot more than he would've been able to manage a few weeks ago—and then pulled his bow from his back, and drew and arrow from his quiver. Aes raised an eyebrow in excitement, as did Geki, who instantly put a hand to his bow defensively as he saw Arkas ready his arrow, "An archer?" asked Aes, "How good is your aim?" Arkas smiled confidently then looked over at Cecil quickly, "Fairly good," he said, "May I have a target? Something fairly hard if you can." Aes smiled, "Alex—" the king instantly cringed, and Kanaahn made a note that Alexander hated being addressed as Alex "—stand there with an apple in your mouth alright? Or is it supposed to be on your head…? Oh bother, it doesn't matter I forgot we don't have apples on hand. Alright, Arkas just aim at Alex and if you hit him you're good."

Alexander got ready to protest—not exactly sure if this was one of Aes' jokes or not—but Aes rolled his eyes, "Oh calm down Alex," he said smiling, "It was just a joke. Arkas, open that window over there will you?" Arkas nodded and did as he was told. Aes nodded and pointed out the window with his tail, "Do you see that wooden dragon at the top of the tower down there?" he asked. Arkas nodded in reply, "You want me to hit that?" he asked. Kanaahn couldn't believe it, he had never seen Arkas so confident, thought Kanaahn had a feeling it had something to do with Cecil being in the same room as him. Arkas nodded as Aes confirmed the target, and drew his bow. Arkas pulled back the drawstring until it just touched his lips, and once he was sure of his aim, fired. There was the twang of a tense string being released, and then the whistle of the arrow as it flew through the air. Then, thwack, the arrow hit its mark, dead on. Aes smiled and gently tapped his tail on the ground—which still caused the tower to shake regardless—and Geki clapped politely, with an impressed look on his face. Arkas gave a small bow as he returned to the line up of his friends, glancing back at Cecil as he did. Kanaahn smiled, he had seen the glancing exchange between Cecil and Arkas, and he noticed how Cecil blushed and looked away as if nothing happened. As Kanaahn walked up to face Aes, he whispered into Arkas's ear, "Way to go buddy, but I think you're overdoing it a little. Don't turn into me now, only I can get cocky." Arkas smiled, "And Shooter?" he whispered back. Kanaahn smiled back, "He's the exception."

Kanaahn soon stood in front of the great copper dragon, feeling somewhat self conscious and nervous with everyone looking at him. Having seen Arial's display of magic, Shooter's knife performance, and Arkas's marksmanship, Kanaahn had to live up to a standard. Aes looked down at Kanaahn, and a wide smile spread across his face, "Saatus?" he asked, "That's your last name right?" Kanaahn nodded, not sure of what to expect. "Excellent!" he said, "I have very high hopes for you, and also a good idea as to what kind of skills you have. Let me guess, you're a swordsman?" Kanaahn nodded, but before he could ask Aes nodded, "Of course," he said smiling still, "So was your father, in fact that's his sword you have there if I'm not mistaken." Kanaahn grasped the hilt of his sword, he had never thought of it. He had been given the sword a few years ago as a birthday gift from Arial's mother, but he never considered that it might've been his father's. Then again that possibility always seemed so slim before now, and so improbable as well. Kanaahn suddenly felt proud to have his sword, and also a little weird holding it. It wasn't _his_ anymore, and not to mention that there was a whole legacy he had to live up to as well by wielding this blade. Aes, as if sensing Kanaahn's inner turmoil, interrupted, "Do you know anything else besides swordsmanship?" he asked. Kanaahn nodded, "I can use basic fire magic, nothing too fancy just basic fire balls and such." Aes nodded sagely, "I see…nothing else I presume…very well then, I've made my decision."

"You'll all be training with Kasu and Alex to learn more magic, all of you—except Arial—needs practice on that. Arial is exempt from magic lessons—almost all of them anyway—instead while others learn magic, you will be training with Cesaré in the art of another weapon. You're a good medic, and a great sorceress, but if your magic fails you right now you'll be in trouble. You need to learn to defend yourself in other ways. Apart from those basic courses, Arkas will be honing his archery with Geki, who may be able to pass some new tricks onto you. Shooter will train with Cesaré, and learn other weapon forms, because knives aren't always going to be able to cut it for you. Kanaahn will take extra magic courses with Kasu to help him improve your pyromancy." "And our dragons?" asked Arial, being the first to voice a concern that was on everyone's mind. "They'll be training with me," said Aes as he settled down with what Kanaahn thought was going to become a nap very soon, "Which reminds me, they're down in the stable. You probably want to go talk with them don't you?" Everyone nodded, and Aes smiled as he lowered his head onto his hands. "Alex, take them to dragon roost please?" Alexander nodded and opened the door for the Warriors, "This way please," he said, still cringing from being called Alex. Arial, Arkas, Kanaahn and Shooter walked from the circular room after bowing farewell to Aes—who simply yawned back. The group then made their way to the tower to the left of Aes's, where the dragons were now resting.

After several minutes of travelling through cold, tunnel like hallways, they finally arrived at the top of a large, very thick tower. The ceilings were high and vaulted, and were big enough to fit each of the dragons—whom were all nearly full size. The dragons instantly began to cheer as the Warriors walked up to them. Kanaahn ran to Djall, and hugged his foreleg, and Djall bent down and nuzzled Kanaahn with the tip of his nose. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided to remember me," said Djall happily; "You know I was getting very lonely over here." Kanaahn laughed and climbed onto Djall's back, a place he had always loved to be while talking to Djall, or thinking about what to do next. As he settled himself into the saddle he spoke, "You're starting to sound like me you know? And by the way, we need to get you a new saddle, this one's starting to get a little worn, not to mention it's looking small on you." Djall spread his wings proudly, "Well, I have grown Kanaahn, that's only to be expected," he said smilingly, "And also, if I'm starting to sound like you, then I should definitely be worried, I may be loosing my intelligence." Kanaahn rolled his eyes, "Why does everyone feel it necessary to bag on me?" Djall laughed and settled himself down on his knees, "Because it's so much fun, we plan this you know?" he asked sarcastically, and then fell down laughing along with Kanaahn at how ridiculous he sounded. "Remind me, Kanaahn, to never talk like that again," he said happily, "I sound ridiculous; I feel ridiculous."

Djall got back up onto his knees as Kanaahn stroked his neck, "So, how have you guys been since we left you? Have they been treating you right?" Adalinda was the one answered—with her white wings spread wide, causing all of the scales on her body to glitter magnificently in the late afternoon sun—"We have been getting, you could say, the royal treatment," she said happily, her soft, soothing voice sounding softer and more soothing than usual, "I don't remember eating as well as I have before. They brought us an entire weeks worth of hunted animals, all live, and all so fresh. It was nice to hunt for our food for once; it is a privilege that we regret not taking advantage of on the road. Our meals are so small, seeing as we have to eat the food you do." "Well, we want to let you out to hunt," protested Arial, "But lately we've been in enemy territory, and we couldn't just let five, very large, very easy to see dragons go bounding about the forest, and knocking over trees to chase a single deer." Fyete lowered his horn towards one of the several open archways that lined the walls and allowed for the dragons to fly out easily if needed and made be as if he was fighting someone with the horn. "Dragons can eat much more than a single deer, I assure you of that Arial." He said grandiosely, "Especially ones of our size, how we managed to fuel our bodies on human field surprised the royal handlers." Risasi, who was lying on his side chewing a particularly large bone nonchalantly let a puff of smoke from his nostrils, "They said that you need to start letting us hunt as we should," he said in a deep voice, "Otherwise we'll never grow as we are supposed to." Kanaahn looked at Arial, Arkas and Shooter, and then finally sighed. "Fine," he said, "We'll let you hunt, only because you need it. Now that we know it's only Altimara—and now Estion I guess—that hate dragons, you're free to hunt. Just don't get into trouble, alright?"

Adalinda snorted, something no one had heard before in their lives, "We are large, fanged creatures with sharp claws and breath powers that are unmatched," she said, "And you are small, brittle humans who are always getting hurt, you should be worrying about yourselves." Kanaahn rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah well…" he said, "That doesn't mean you still shouldn't be careful. Things are dangerous for all of us all right? Despite of size, or weaponry, we could all be killed at a moments notice, so be vigilant." Djall reared and flapped his wings restlessly, "We know Kanaahn, and you don't need to treat us like hatchlings." He said, "Has Aes decided what we're going to do?" Shooter nodded, "He's going to train you personally, the rest of us will be trained in our areas of weakness, that way we're not unbalanced in skills." Adalinda smiled, "Well, he is wise for a jokester, I should've given him more credit when we met." She said, "He knows that you're pressed for time and that you need to become balanced before you can be truly considered Dragon Warriors." "Can we ask a question now?" asked Arial as she leaned against a wall, "Where are Valence and Kinokaze?" "They were sent out on a scouting flight," answered Fyete, "They're patrolling plains for signs of Supri Fothisevi. We were actually just planning out going out on a hunt, and perhaps join up with them, but we decided to wait for you to show up first." "How long will you be gone?" asked Kanaahn as he hopped from Djall's saddle. "As long as we're hungry," answered Risasi as he stood up and batted the bone off the edge of the tower. Djall glared at Risasi and then looked down at Kanaahn, "Midnight the latest," he said, "If worst comes to worst we'll have two Metallic Dragons with us." Kanaahn sighed, "Djall you have my permission, I can't speak for the other dragons thought." Djall beamed proudly and flapped his wings as he reared and readied for take off. One by one each Warrior conceded, and each of the dragons flapped their wings and flew off from the tower, like majestic scaled birds; their scales glittering beautifully in the setting sun.

The group stood and watched the dragons until they disappeared from sight, "Well," said Arial, "We should go get some rest, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, and for the next few tomorrows as well." Kanaahn nodded in agreement, and the group turned back towards the staircase, each giving one last glance to the horizon before reaching the bottom of the tower, and being escorted back to their rooms by a royal servant. From the time they left the tower, to the time Kanaahn crawled into bed, all that was on his mind was how far he and Djall had come since the latter had hatched. And also about how much farther they had to go, and not to mention how much their bond and their skills would be tested and pushed during their time in training at Malatrion. The thoughts exhausted Kanaahn, causing him to drift off to sleep, where he was free to dream that he was back in Küla, safe from the current state of the world, and safe from the death and fighting; and not to mention safe from fate.


	9. Chapter 7: The Most Powerful Magic

Chapter 7: The Most Powerful Type of Magic

Alexander placed his hands on his hips, and gave a gruff smile. "I hope you're ready for training today," he said happily, "I'm going to work you hard, so that when you leave here you'll be masters at what I'm about to teach you." Kanaahn rubbed his eyes, still worn out from training yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. Everyone was fairly worn out, and even the eight hours of rest that they were allotted wasn't enough to recharge for them. Kanaahn yawned, but he was too slow in asking the next question, and Arkas asked for him. "What _do_ you plan on teaching us exactly?" he asked, "We've already learned illusionary and offensive magic, and how to conjure up protective bubbles, what else could we possibly need to know?" Alexander raised and eyebrow, and smiled, "Aye, now that's a question," he said with a loud chuckle, "You're the kind of guy I like Arkas, always asking questions, that means your observant and keep on your feet, good! As you should be." Arial rubbed her eye and then raised her hand, "I'm proud of Arkas for speaking up and all," she said plainly, "But that doesn't exactly answer his—or ours for that matter—question." Alexander raised his eyebrow again, something he did whenever he found out he had made a fault, and then answered while stroking his beard, "Well, yes, you're right. Very well." He said gruffly, and then cleared his throat, "I am going to teach you the most powerful kind of magic." Arial's eyes brightened and she straightened up, as did everyone else's, and paid instant attention. Arial would do anything to learn more about magic, and if this magic was as powerful as Alexander said, then it would definitely come in handy in the future, maybe it could be used against Tenebrae, or used to save one of her friends lives if they needed it. It would probably be Kanaahn, since he was the one that always needed saving.

Alexander than turned around to face his back towards the group, he then began to speak again. "This magic is known as the Gemoth Nobiun in the dragon's tongue. It translates to Nature State." "Nature State?" asked Arial with an intrigue that was usually shown by Shooter over knives. She had already pulled out a quill and several rolls of parchment so that she could take notes. "The Nature State is the most powerful type of magic that the dragons gave to the humans," said Alexander, "It is the secret behind a dragon's powers, and it is why dragons can use large amounts of magic without tiring. It is also why dragons magic is so potent and dangerous." Arial's quill was the only other sound beside Alexander's voice, everyone else remained silent and attentive as they listened to the king explain this all-powerful magic. "Aurum was the first dragon to teach this to the humans," continued Alexander, "And he first taught it to Nayondel, the first leader of the Dragon Warriors. Its name is exactly as it sounds, it is a state induced and maintained by nature." Everyone by now was confused, even Arial, but before anyone could ask for clarification, Alexander continued. "I'm not sure you know this," he stated, "But dragons draw their power and magic from the Earth itself. It is the reason they live so long, because their life source and power is drawn upon from the Earth, and the longer they can keep the flow without dying the longer they live."

Kanaahn finally managed to ask a question through his yawning, no matter how interesting this topic was, Kanaahn was still tired. "So, you're saying, that if Tenebrae took over the Earth—theoretically," he said quickly, "Does that mean—" "—All dragons would die? Yes, that's exactly what it means. That's why its imperative that you do not fail or die at Tenebrae's hands, because if even one of your souls enters his hands, he will be that much closer to unlocking the five walls that protect him from taking over the Earth's spirit and opening it's unlimited source of magic and taking it for himself. The dragons are weakening enough as it is, but if Tenebrae gains enough the slightest bit more power, we will be unable to stop him completely." "Is that why Tenebrae is so powerful?" asked Shooter, "Because he uses the power of the Earth? Is he stealing it from the dragons?" Alexander remained silent, "No, he's not," he said finally, "I cannot reveal to you the true source of his power. That will be for Aurum to decide when you are ready, for now, let us move on, we do not have much time." Everyone remained silent as Alexander picked up his explanation again, "As I was saying, dragons pull their magic from the Earth," he said, "And that is why a dragon can never run out of magic; because the Earth's magic is infinite and as long as the dragon is not injured to badly, it can maintain its flow of magic and keep it constant, drawing upon the magic as it needs it." "So how do we enter this Nature State?" asked Kanaahn, "What does it do? And what makes it so powerful?"

"Hold on," said Alexander, "I'm getting there, just relax. Well, you see, in the Nature State, one is equivalent to a dragon. They can draw upon the infinite magic of the Earth, which is what keeps them in that state. It is called the Nature State for two reasons, one because it uses the magic given to us by the Earth and Nature, and secondly because it changes your body to more resemble that of an animal, specifically an animal that resides within your soul. Similar to your animal familiar, only the animal that you become in your Nature State is one that best represents your personality, better than your familiar does. Nature State takes all of your traits into account, where as your familiar takes only one into account. The Nature State also increases your speed, strength and your senses, and makes you much more like a dragon. In the Nature State you can sense magic and life in other beings, you may also get the ability to control specific elements, such as water or fire, but so far no one can do that. Hopefully, one of you will be able to." "How do we enter this state? You still haven't told us." Said Arial as she frantically scribbled down everything Alexander was saying with an intensity that was only used by her for magic. "You draw upon the magic if your dragon, who draws upon the magic of the Earth," said Alexander, "No human, not even a Warrior is sensitive enough and in tune enough with the Earth that they can draw upon the Earth's magic without a dragon, which is why a dragon partner is necessary. It is best if you were the one who hatched the egg, as the connection between the user and the dragon will be stronger, and you will be able to draw much more magic, and at a much easier and faster pace." "Is there a limit to how much magic we can draw upon?" asked Arkas intently as he repositioned the way he was standing and crossed his arms.

"No," said Alexander, "Like a dragon you can draw upon as much magic as you want, and as long as your dragon proxy is conscious and living, you can drawn on the magic for as long as you want as well. However, there are repercussions you should be aware of." Arial began to write faster than ever, as she didn't want to miss a single drawback to this type of magic. "This magic can only be used once and a while, and as a last resort," he said strictly, "This Nature State should not be the first thing that you use when you enter a fight. Use this only when you are loosing a fight you can't afford to loose. Every minute you spend in the Nature State is equal to one day that you cannot use it, in other words, if you use the Nature State for ten minutes you will not be able to use it again for ten days, if you use it for thirty minutes then you wont be able to use it again for thirty days. Also, the same is true for your dragon; it will not be able to use its breath power for as many days as you are unable to use the Nature State." "Is there special training that we have to do with the dragons? Or is this just intuitive?" asked Arial still scribbling so fast that Kanaahn could've sworn he saw smoke rise up from the page.

"Your dragons are currently undergoing the training necessary for them to take the magic they pull in from the Earth and channel it towards a target," said Alexander, "Seeing as they are born knowing how to take in magic from the Earth, teaching them to channel it is all that is needed. However, teaching you to receive the magic they channel, and then using it to get you into the Nature State, that is our main focus." "So when do we begin?" asked Kanaahn, "I'm curious to see what I can do in the Nature State." "We will start immediately," said Alexander, "You should still be able to reach your dragons from here, they have a large channeling range, and it will help them with their practice of channeling their magic to humans and other life forms. Dragons, without training, are unaware of their power and the mass amounts of magic they contain and control, and as a result many dragons do not know how to control their magic and use it at will. That is why dragon magic is so random, unless they are properly taught; your dragons are being made aware of their power and are being taught how to use it correctly. Now, enough talk, let us begin." Alexander waved his hand as it swatting a fly, and the next thing Kanaahn knew he was standing outside in the courtyard with everyone else. "Now, I'm going to demonstrate how to do this properly," he said, "And remember, if it's not done right, the magic will either rip you apart or turn you to stone. It is _very_ powerful and _very_ potent, and if you don't know how to control it it will consume you and end you. Now, watch, and I will show you." Alexander placed his hands together, and then closed his eyes. His breathing became slow, and relaxed, and he slowly inhaled, and then exhaled; taking slow, deep breaths. As Alexander began to control his breathing everyone else watched intently, as if expecting an explosion, but nothing yet. Alexander simply continued to control his breathing, and breath deeply. While he was waiting for Alexander to go into the Nature State, Kanaahn looked across the courtyard, and saw Cesaré standing by the main door of the palace.

Kanaahn instantly remembered he had sword training with Cesaré after this; him and Shooter. He also remembered how tough Cesaré had been on the both of them last time. Kanaahn was fairly fine with the rough manner of teaching, and the very strict methods the teacher used, but he wasn't so sure Shooter was taking them as well as he was. Kanaahn loved the challenge, and being able to prove himself to Cesaré was definitely a fun challenge, but Shooter was new to swordplay, and he wasn't as skilled as Kanaahn, so he was having a harder time. But then again, at the same time, as tough as Cesaré was on Shooter and him, it was almost like a fatherly tough. The strict instruction a father would give to his sons when he wanted them to learn from his mistakes, and be better than him. This struck Kanaahn as odd, as he had only just met Cesaré, and Cesaré couldn't possibly take a liking to Kanaahn and Shooter that fast. In fact, Kanaahn wasn't even sure that Cesaré liked them at all; it was hard to tell with him. Kanaahn's attention was restored to Alexander as a soft tinkling sound and bright light caught his attention. Kanaahn looked over at Alexander and could see that he was starting to glow with a blue-green aura, and his skin was beginning to take on a bluish color. And just as suddenly as the changes had begun, they had begun to speed up. Alexander's hair grew, long and past his shoulders, like a thick red mane, and his beard did the same, going down to his midsection. His muscles seemed to expand to almost twice their size, and his skin turned a light blue, streaked with glowing white lines that seemed to outline certain joints. His eyes glowed white, and his forearms became covered in a thick, white and black ringed fur, which covered his now clawed hands as well. His lower half became more muscular as well, and also grew lots of black fure, which turned into white around his knees. His lower body seemed to resemble that of a cat's, with his feet becoming hind paws as well. Finally, a tailed flicked out from behind him and began to move back and forth like a large feline's.

Alexander's armor had also become to small for his now doubled muscles, and they had been ripped off, leaving him in nothing but his armoured skirt on. Alexander let out a fierce, tigerlike roar, which shook the palace and echoed across the courtyard. "This," he said in a deeper, gruffer voice than normal, "Is what your should look like if you do this correctly. Now of course the animal you resemble will change, but you should look along these lines." Alexander's body began to regain its normal color, and his muscles started to deflate as if the air was being slowly let out of them. Slowly but surely, Alexander returned to his normal form; still shirtless however. He looked over at the young Warriors, and with a hopeful smile, said "Now, you try," he said, "Stand a good ways apart from each other so you're not hurting each other, and then reach out towards the tallest tower and try to find the connection with your dragon. Once you find it I will instruct you from there." Everyone did as Alexander asked, and spread themselves out in a line a good few feet apart from each other. They then did as Alexander had, and placed their hands together in front of their chest, and closed their eyes. "Good," said Alexander, "Use your minds to search for your dragon, if your bond is strong enough—as it should be—you two should be able to find each other soon."

There were a few minutes of pause, and suddenly, Arial's eyes shot open. It was clear to Alexander, and to everyone else for that matter, she had touched Adalinda's mind. "Good, I see Arial's got her dragon," said Alexander, "Hold on to the connection Arial, keep focused, and don't let the connection overwhelm you, we'll continue as soon as these guys have found their dragons. How is it looking boys?" No one answered; they were too focused on searching to answer. Suddenly, Shooter found Risasi, and then Arkas found Fyete, and finally Kanaahn found Djall. With everyone's mind connected to their dragons, Alexander crossed his arms contently and continued, "Good, now remain calm, and remain focused," said Alexander, "Clear your mind of any and all thoughts, it must be completely blank." "Kinda like Shooters?" joked Kanaahn, Shooter mocked a laugh and stuck his tongue out at Kanaahn, to which the two started to laugh at together. "Enough joking around there boys," said Alexander firmly, "We can joke later, we need to teach you this now, so focus. All right, when your mind is clear, tell your dragon—through your mind—to being sending you magic. When you can feel the magic, begin to breath deeply, in and out. Don't let your breathing quicken or fall out of rhythm, it must remain constant." Everyone nodded, and communicated with their dragon to send over some magic. As Kanaahn told Djall this, he could instantly feel a large amount of power rush into his body, and it sort of panicked him. Kanaahn felt as if ice was running through his veins, and he suddenly felt as if a large mountain was strapped to his back. So this was what pure magic felt like? It had weight to it, and it seemed so cold and volatile, like it didn't care what it was used for, so long as it was used.

Kanaahn didn't think he could handle it; he was starting to panic more. His heartbeat became irregular, and with it, so did his breathing; he was starting to loose control. Suddenly Kanaahn felt a warm trickle run up his leg, as if warm water was beginning to wash over it…only it was moving upwards. There was a loud whack, and Kanaahn could feel pain in the back of his head, and suddenly he was on the ground, and he was back in the real world. It was then that he realized Alexander had hit him over the back of the head. In fact, looking around, everyone else was in the same position as he was, holding their heads or on the ground. "I'm sorry I had to hit you all," he said, "It was the only way to break you out of that state of focus." "What just happened?" asked Arial, "I felt weird, like water was running up my leg." "You were turning to stone," said Alexander, "You lost control of the magic and it started to turn you to stone. Don't worry though, no one gets this on his or her first try, but it gives you a feel of what magic is like. Are you ready to try again? We're going to try until get it right, it's imperative that we do." Kanaahn and the rest stood up, ready to try this again.

No one was quite sure why, but no matter how worn out their first try made them, they seemed to have enough energy and spirit to try it again and again. The practice continued all morning, and for much of the afternoon as well. In fact it lasted until sunset, when the sky had turned orange and purple from the setting sun, and the moon was beginning to rise. Everyone lay there on the ground, exhausted and out of breath. Moving a muscle hurt, and breathing hurt more, they had no energy left; yet they still kept trying. Beads of sweat trickled down Kanaahn's chest, back and temples. Shooter and Arkas had joined Kanaahn's shirtless masquerade after their clothes had become too hot for them. Alexander let out a sigh, "We're getting there, you're starting to take on some signs of transformation," he said, "Or at least the beginning of one. You need more practice though, we'll try again, and if you can't get it we'll try again tomorrow." Everyone nodded, and after a few minutes of catching their breath, stood back up again and began to take in magic from their dragons. Kanaahn's breathing became leveled and even as he felt the magic course through him again. He had grown accustomed to the cold that rushed through him, and of the heavy burden the magic became. His mind was strangely calm and empty for this being the thousandth time he was trying this. Perhaps he was too exhausted to think anything, or maybe he had run out of thoughts, but whatever the reason, Kanaahn could never explain what was about to happen.

Kanaahn's eyes shot open, seemingly of their own accord, and as he looked down at himself, he could see patches of green scales. Kanaahn ran to the water trough to get a good look at himself, and sure enough, he was transformed, and completely. His face had become flatter, and his nose was now two diagonal slits in his face—which was now half covered in thick, green scales. Most of his body was now patched with large patches of scales, and his hands and feet had become clawed—which matched his now forked tongue and sharp pointed teeth. His hands and feet now more resembled that of a lizard, and he had a large, long, green, scaly tail with a spike ball at the end of it swinging back and forth behind him. Then, as Kanaahn turned around, he could feel something more, and sure enough, he was right. He stretched his shoulder blades in a certain way, and two, large, white, feathery wings shot out to each side, and then folded themselves neatly over his back, covering it. Alexander clapped happily, "Way to go you guys! You did it!" Kanaahn turned around, and he could see that everyone else had completed their transformations as well. Shooter was now purple, and had a body building similar to that of a frog, but it was a bit more than that. Two large half moon blades grew from Shooter's forearms and jutted out past his hand and elbow. His now webbed hands and feet had a very large, very hooked claw where the middle digit once was on both appendages. His back was slightly hunched, but not to a horrible degree, and despite being slightly frog like, he had a long, slim, purple tail that flicked around quickly. He looked very stream lined to be honest.

Next, Arial's form had taken an interesting turn. She had a beak, but the rest of her face remained as is. She had very large eagle wings, protruding from her back, and her legs had become eagle talons from below the knee. She looked very intimidating, especially with her large clawed feet and hands, she was not someone Kanaahn wanted to mess with in this state. Finally, Kanaahn moved his yellow eyes to Arkas, who was probably the one who resembled an animal, the most; he didn't just look like a wolf, he _was_ a wolf. Arkas resembled a wolf that had stood on it's hind legs like a human, only he was much more muscular. Alexander clapped happily, and Kanaahn had never seen him so proud. Kanaahn couldn't help but smile either, he was proud of himself, and of the others. Alexander stopped clapping eventually and then said, "All right, now get out of your Nature States, quickly." They did as he asked, and turning it off suddenly seemed so much easier than turning it on. All they had to do was think about it and it was gone, but to get into the Nature State took much more work than just thinking about it. Everyone collapsed to the ground with exhaustion as they pulled out of the Nature State; something none of them expected.

"You did fine today," said Alexander, "You can now enter the Nature State, you're not perfect, but you're good as we can get. There is just one thing, you were in the Nature State for a good four minutes, meaning you will not be able to use it for four days." "But—!" Arial began to protest, but Alexander cut her off. "Supri Fothisevi should be here in five days," he answered her, "You will have to recover and regain your strength, so will your dragons. Now, go in and go eat, get some rest. You deserve it." And with that, Alexander walked from the courtyard and back into the palace, leaving Arial, Arkas, Shooter and Kanaahn to drag themselves back up to their rooms. They were so tired, that after eating only a quarter of their meals, they fell asleep on the couches in Arial's room. As Kanaahn drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but wonder if Drakhart was learning how to use the Nature State too, and he couldn't help but wonder how long ago he learned it—if he did learn it that is—and if he had learned it a long time ago, was he stronger with it? Was he better with it? And could Kanaahn even have a chance of beating him now? Kanaahn hoped that if the day ever came he would have to fight Drakhart in the Nature State; it would be at a time when Kanaahn could fully control it. But of course, as Kanaahn had come to learn, you can't always get what you want, because life just wasn't that simple anymore.


	10. Chapter 8: The Truth About Cecil

Chapter 8: The Truth About Cecil

Arkas stood beside Cecil, she had invited him out to the tallest tower at midnight, and Arkas—no matter how worn out he was from training the past few days, especially having learned the Nature State 3 days ago—was not going to miss it. He arrived a little while ago, and sicne then the two of them had just sat there, watching the stars. Arkas was okay with that though, he didn't mind, as long as he got to spend _some_ time with Cecil, he was okay. "The night is beautiful isn't it?" asked Cecil with a smile as she stared up at the stars. Arkas nodded, "Very, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he replied, though he wasn't talking about the stars. "I agree…it's so magical," exclaimed Cecil in awe, "Looking up into the pure black sky, where all light is consumed, and then, it's pierced by small lights and the large pale moon." "My mother once told me that the stars were the dreams and hopes of everyone," he stated, "She said that every time you make a wish, or you want something bad enough, it goes up into the sky and makes a star." "I like that allegory…" said Cecil whimsically, but then she frowned slightly as a thought hit her, "What about when stars dissapear?" Arkas laughed, "My mother told me that when stars dissapear, it means someone's wish has come true." He replied. Cecil smiled again, "That's nice…" she answered happily. "I feel like making a wish now," said Arkas, Cecil nodded in agreement. "But we shouldn't tell anyone," said Cecil, "Not even each other, it might jinx it." Arkas agreed, and the two shut their eyes and looked up into the skies.

Silently, both of them mouthed their wishes, but only beneath their breath. Arkas knew exactly what he was going to wish for, "A chance with Cecil," he whispered ever so quietly so that only he could hear, "That is my wish, a chance with Cecil." After both were done, Cecil smiled and opened her eyes, "It's getting cold, and late," she said with a sudden shiver, "Can we go back down now?" Arkas nodded, "Sure, I'll walk you back to your room?" Cecil smiled, and the two headed back down the spiraling staircase towards their rooms. Along the way they passed several hallways full of unknown artifacts, and some that seemed to just suddenly have appeared out of nowhere. Arkas didn't quite remember all of these hallways being there before, and he was pretty confident with his knowledge of the castle's layout. But he still didn't question it, and continued to follow Cecil. Every so often they would stop to relight the candle, or get a new one if the old one had burnt out, or even stop and talk about something that had caught Arkas's eye. Arkas never realized it before, but there was something magical about everything that decorated all of the hallways in the palace, and so many things to get distracted by, and so many excuses to spend more time with Cecil. It finally doned on Arkas, that if he married Cecil, he would probably need to get Alexander's blessing, meaning he would need Alexander to approve of him, and the thought scared him slightly. Arkas and Alexander were on good terms, very good terms infact, but Alexander was so large and intimidating, and he didn't seem like the type of person who would be biased towards friends. But Arkas wasn't going to give up on Cecil, he would just need to learn to conquer his fear of Alexander, besides, he had a long time before the two would get married—hell they weren't even dating yet.

All of a sudden Cecil stopped, and Arkas was dragged from his thoughts, "What's wrong?" whispered Arkas. Cecil raised her hand for a second, telling him to be quiet, and then strained her ears, "Did you hear that?" she asked. Arkas shook his head, "Hear what?" he asked. Cecil paused before answering, and then again looked around, "That," she said, "It sounded like metal hitting metal…and then metal hitting wood." Arkas raised an eyebrowd and pulled a dagger from his belt—something he had gone into the habit of carrying since he learned how to use weapons besides his bow—and held it at his side, ready to strike if needed. "Don't worry," he said, "It's probably nothing, but just incase I have this—" Arkas gestured to the dagger, "—and you have yours don't you?" Cecil nodded and pulled an emerald hilted dagger from her sleeve, "I usually keep one around anyway," she smiled, "It just so happened that this time it came with the outfit." Arkas laughed, "Well, for all the impracticality of the outfit, at least it comes with it's own defenses." Cecil nodded with a chuckle, and the two continued on down the hallway. Unbeknownst to them, however, the sound had been coming from the next hallway over, in a small room, which Kanaahn had converted into a training ground. Splintered wood littered the ground and a now hacked-to-pieces suit of armor lay scattered around as well. Kanaahn was breathing heavy, and his sword was out. He had decided to get in some late night practicing with his sword—something he hadn't had the chance to do in a while—and it was also something encouraged by Cesaré, who would usually join him, but couldn't tonight due to being on guard duty.

Kanaahn placed his sword back in the sheath, and then quietly—with the flick of his hand—put the suit of armor and the cabinet—which had become the splintered wood—back together and back to where they were. As he exited the room as quietly as possible, he heard voices coming from not too far off and froze. His hand instantly flew to his sword, but he stopped it as he realized the voices were familiar, in fact it was Arkas and Cecil, the two were in the next hall over, and they were talking. Kanaahn figured they were out somewhere that night, and had heard him training on their way back to their rooms, and stopped to see what the noise was. Kanaahn waited until they were gone to leave the room, he would've taken his time to go back to his room—and possibly visit Kyeit on the way—but something intrigued him about Arkas and Cecil's late night rendezvous, so with the flick of his wrist and a whispered, "Sweekmon," his vision suddenly became black, and all that could be seen was a rough outline of his surroundings and the two figures that were Arkas and Cecil. Kanaahn followed closely, but not to close, remaining in his parallel hallway and never crossing over to the other. When Arkas and Cecil reached the end of their hallway—where Kanaahn's was merged in with theirs—Kanaahn hid behind a suit of armor as the duo went up the spiral staircase towards their rooms. Making sure they were a good ways up the staircase, Kanaahn ended his vision spell and followed them up. When he reached the top of the stairs, Arkas and Cecil had just entered Cecil's room, leaving Kanaahn locked outside. Kanaahn then walked up to the door, and whispered, "Ultro," causing his hearing to improve. Kanaahn could now hear a pin drop a mile away, but focused his hearing down on the room behind the door; on Cecil and Arkas.

Arkas and Cecil sat on the couch in front of the fire, which was one of the room's two light sources; the other being the window on the wall to the right, which painted a pale patch over the stone floor. Arkas looked over at Cecil, the two sat on opposite ends of the couch, looking towards each other. The light of the fire made her skin seem smoother than it was—and it was fairly smooth already—and he eyes seemed to light up in the flames as well. Arkas felt like a flame at that moment, he felt a burning in his heart and in his stomach, he felt the passion he had for Cecil, he just hoped Cecil felt it too. The two just kept looking at each other, lost completely for words, and then slowly they moved in closer to each other. As they did, they began to lean forward, their eyes slowly closing and their hands meeting, and then grasping each other's. Arkas and Cecil slowly moved in to kiss each other, just as they had at the Inn in Angova, but once more they were stopped. Cecil stopped just an inch away from Arkas's lips, and pulled back. She ran to the window, and turned her back from Arkas. Arkas looked over at her puzzled as she stared out the window, and it was then that he could see the pain in her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked calmly, "Is every thing alright?"

"No," said Cecil, "I can't do this Arkas…I'm sorry." "What do you mean?" he asked as he stood up from the couch, he was very confused now, "Do what?" "I can't fall in love with you, and I can't kiss you," she said, choking back tears, "It's just too painful, and I can't do it." "What's wrong?" asked Arkas as he slowly approached Cecil—but he still kept a good distance from her, he knew she needed space. "Sit down Arkas," said Cecil, refusing harder than ever to look away from the window, "There's something I need to tell you." Cecil had regained her composure, and Arkas did as she said and sat back on the couch. "What is it Cecil?" he asked, "I still don't understand, is there someone else?" Cecil sighed, and cleared her throat, "Yes, and no." she said simply, "Just let me explain first, then you can ask questions." Arkas nodded and sat back in his seat, he had a feeling he would be there for a while. "It was many years ago," started Cecil, "I was six, and I was playing down in the farming ring by the river. My mother warned me not to go near it, but I did anyway, I had run away from the palace to go out and play and everyone was looking for me. As I got close to the river, a man on a horse—one of my father's guards—called my name, and I don't know why, but I panicked and lost my balance at the water's edge and I fell in. The man on the horse wasn't going to make it in time, and I thought I was going to die. The next thing I remembered was a hand reaching down from the surface, and then an arm, and a body, and someone had jumped into the river to save me. The person pulled me out and lay me on the riverbank, and I remember waking up to look at his shadowy face. I couldn't make anything out, but before I could get a better look the man on the horse had whisked me away to the palace."

"My mother then scolded me for disobeying her, and demanded the soldiers to find the person who had saved me. It turned out the person had followed me back to the palace, and had snuck in, so when the soldiers found him they brought him straight to my parents and I. I realized the person who saved me was a boy; he had to be at least eight because he was a few years older than me. Well, my parents thanked him and gave him a large sum of money which he turned down, he only asked if he could play with me during the days, because he wanted some new friends. My parents agreed, even though he wasn't of the same status he had saved my life, and it was the least they could do. They trusted me with him, since he had saved my life once before. The two of us bonded quickly, and became the best of friends, and eventually that friendship blossomed and bloomed into a romance. It was after the death of my parents, he had been so great at comforting me and making me feel better…we ended up falling in love because of it. But we waited, because we were too young, and because I needed to go with Aes and train. We both had our duties, but we kept in touch during my absence, and our love burned strong…" Cecil paused here, and Arkas knew she was holding back tears again, but he kept his mouth shut and let her overcome the tears herself. "Forgive me I haven't full gotten over this yet…you see, it was about three years ago, I was thirteen and he was fifteen, he fell fatally ill. They said he was poisoned, you see he tried to join the Daron so that he could be closer to me, and on his first mission he ran into the Kothar unexpectedly…they beat him down until he was weak, and when he couldn't fight back and they had killed everyone else in his squad, they poisoned him and left him to die. I flew back to Malatrion as fast as I could, I had learned the perfect healing spell that would've saved him…but…but I wasn't fast enough…as I was performing the spell, his life began to slip away and…"

Cecil never finished, but Arkas knew what she was going to say, the boy had died under her care, and she had never truly gotten over him. Arkas's hopes soared somewhat, he figured if he could make her feel better about this, and comfort her, he could win her affection just as this boy had. Arkas slowly stood up and walked over to Cecil—who was now in tears, but didn't show it except for two tears that rolled down her right cheek—and moved in to give her a comforting hug. As his arms closed around her she pushed him away and turned to face him, she seemed a little angry, and this scared Arkas. The hug had been a mistake. "Don't!" she said in pain, "Please, just don't. Don't you see? Don't you understand? I can't love you, and these feelings I've had are wrong. I can't let them continue though, I'm sorry." "So you admit you have feelings for me," he said calmly, "But I don't see why you can't just—" "What?" she asked, her voice raising a bit, she wasn't trying to fight back the tears anymore, "Give up on him because he's dead? I can't, it's not that easy, I've tried. I loved him, I still love him, and I vowed I wouldn't love another. That's how it has to be…" "It doesn't have to be that way, Cecil," said Arkas soothingly, "Given a little time…maybe you could find a way to come to terms with your grief and move—"

"How dare you?" asked Cecil, "You don't even care how this hurts me, all you care about is yourself, and whether or not I like you!" "That's not true—" started Arkas, but Cecil cut him off again. "Yes it is!" she said, "Would you ask Kanaahn to give up on his parents? Would you ask Kyeit to give up on Kanaahn? Would you ask Arial to give up on Leon? Would I have asked you to stop pretending Drakhart is a friend, just because he's on the wrong side?" Arkas was speechless, but didn't get the time to come up with an answer. "I knew it," said Cecil, "Get out of my room." Arkas didn't move for a second, and it took Cecil reaching for her dagger for him to leave. He left, quickly, not even looking back to see if he had forgotten anything, he just needed to get out of there. Kanaahn, who had heard everything and heard Arkas going towards the door, hid behind a tapestry, hoping that no one would see a Kanaahn shaped bulge coming from the wall. As Arkas left Cecil's room to go to his, Kanaahn was tempted to go out and comfort him, but he knew he shouldn't, Arkas needed to be alone. As Arkas entered his room, Kanaahn exited from his hiding spot, only to come eye to eye with Cesaré, who stood at the top of the stairs. Kanaahn froze, and gave a wide smile, "Good evening, Cesaré," said Kanaahn as charmingly as he could, "How are you this fine eve—" Cesaré cut him off however. "You're just like you're father," he said, a half smile half growl breached his face, "He was always eavesdropping on his friends and family, even if it got him into trouble. But both of you would've realized that your friend needed to be alone, and left him alone, just like you did."

Kanaahn released his smile and raised an eyebrow, "You knew my father?" asked Kanaahn. Cesaré nodded, "Aye," he said, "I knew him very well, we were close. The Daron was always putting us together for missions, so we got very close as a result." Kanaahn stared at Cesaré in awe, he suddenly felt the urge to ask so many questions about his father, but he didn't get the chance. The next thing he knew, Cesaré had cleared his throat and turned back towards the stairs, "You should get to bed," said the old General, "You need your rest; We're expecting Supri Fothisevi within the next day, and you wouldn't want to loose to him again now would you?" Kanaahn shook his head adamantly, "No sir," he said, "I would not." Cesaré nodded, "Smart boy," he said, "Now go, get some sleep." And with that, Cesaré was gone down the spiral staircase, leaving Kanaahn to go into his room. Kanaahn sighed as he threw his sword onto a nearby chair, and lay down in his bed—too worn out all of a sudden to get beneath his sheets—the training and altercation between Arkas and Cecil had begun to weigh him down, and wear him down. Kanaahn rolled over, exhausted, and yawned, as his eyelids got heavy. His last thoughts before he fell asleep were of his last battle with Supri Fothisevi, and how it had ended…in defeat. Kanaahn touched his shoulder, it was ripped apart last time, and Kanaahn couldn't help but fear that more would be ripped apart this time—but no, he was prepared this time, he had the Nature State, and he had the others helping him. This time would be different; Kanaahn would make sure of it.


	11. Chapter 9: Supri Fothisevi

Chapter 9: Supri Fothisevi

Kanaahn woke up to the sound of a loud bell ringing in the highest tower of the palace. People were screaming and running around, he could hear it in the courtyard below. Soldiers were scrambling around to get into formation, and then someone knocked on the door. "Get up!" shouted Cesaré, "Supri Fothisevi has been seen within range of the city! I've awoken the others, meet us on the walls!" Kanaahn shot up and ran over to the bowl of warm water placed there by one of the castles attendants earlier. He splashed some of the water in his face and ran his wet fingers through his hair. The water was cold, it hadn't been replaced from yesterday, but Kanaahn didn't care, this wasn't the time to worry about water. He ran from his room as he swung open the door, no one else was leaving their rooms, leaving Kanaahn to assume he was the only one left. He ran down the spiraling stairs, jumping the last few steps and kept running down the hallway. After about 20 minutes, Kanaahn finally reached the walls. As he exited the tower onto the battlements, he could see everyone else was already gathered on the wall. "Nice of you to finally show up, Kanaahn," said Cesaré, he was standing at the edge of the battlements by the parapet, dressed in full armor with his sword at his side. "I got here as fast as I could," he said catching his breath, "So where's Supri Fothisevi?" Geki—who had been looking through a spyglass towards the fields of Asardaea—turned to Kanaahn and handed the spyglass to him. "Over there," pointed Geki as Kanaahn scanned for signs of the large dragon, "You see? On the horizon?" Kanaahn stopped moving and stared at the large dragon, and his mouth dropped. He looked angrier than he had the first time, and he was moving faster too. "At least he's not followed by a large army of undead soldiers," said Kanaahn, "That should make the fight a little easier."

"Unfortunately I still don't think that would help," said a soft voice, and Kanaahn turned to see Aes and the other dragons had touched down beside the parapet, their heads standing tall over the walls. "Why not?" asked Arial as she ran down the steps of the walls towards Adalinda. "Because," answered Risasi, "Master Aes believes that Tenebrae may have given Supri Fothisevi new powers to ensure that he would be undefeated." "That, and it took three of the metallic dragons to take him down last time," added Fyete. Shooter gave a barking laugh as he ran towards Risasi and hugged his dragon's neck, "I definitely like the odds then," said Shooter as he mounted his dragon. "It seems we're always fighting against the odds, doesn't it?" asked Kyeit, "We practically specialize it." "Well, I wouldn't get your hopes up this time," said Alexander as he came out onto the battlements in full armor, with his sword drawn, "Geki pass me the spy glass." Geki did was he was instructed, while Kanaahn and the others went to greet and mount their dragons. It was at this point that Kanaahn realized he and the others weren't properly armored for battle, although the dragons were in their usual gold and silver splendored armor.

"You're all aware we don't have armor right?" asked Kanaahn. Arkas let out a laugh, "That's something coming from Kanaahn," he said smiling, "He doesn't even like wearing shirts, let alone armor. Either Kyeit's getting through to him or he's really worried." Cecil glared over at him, "And why shouldn't he be?" she asked, "You saw what happened last time he fought that beast, he almost lost his arm. I'm surprised we're all not more worried than this." "Shh!" said Alexander quickly, "I'm trying to think, at least whisper." There was a few minutes of pause as Alexander stared at Supri Fothisevi through the spyglass, taking small breaks to converse with Kasu and Geki, all while Cesaré was running back and forth between the guardhouses and the wall. After a few minutes, Adalinda spoke in a whisper, "I can feel him…" she said softly, "Supri Fothisevi…I can feel his anger…his power…it's frightening…" Risasi, Fyete and the other dragons shook, shivering like pines in the wind, "What's wrong?" asked Shooter, "Can you feel it too?" Valence nodded, "All dragons—correction, all living beings—give off an aura. Even down to the smallest ant or blade of grass," she said softly, "And it can be felt by those who are in tune to the Earth's hum. Meaning other dragons, animals and any human who has trained them selves to listen. A being's aura is a representation of itself…and Supri Fothisevi's is a pure and foul aura. It is wrought with evil, like a wreath of darkness, and it is poisonous." Aes nodded, his eyes becoming mystical as he stared off into space, "Aye," he said, "It feels different than it did the last time…he is not the same. He is darker, more twisted…more vile; Tenebrae has warped his mind further, for he is not the same Supri Fothisevi he once was, he's not even the first time he walked along side Tenebrae's dark armies."

"Could it be that resurrecting him has warped his mind further, master?" asked Kinokaze calmly. Aes closed his eyes and screwed up his face slightly, sniffing the air and tasting it with his tongue. There was a pause before he answered, and finally he responded, "It is quite possible," he said, "He definitely does not have the aura of a living being…and he is far more insane than he used to be. Tenebrae must have brought him back, and warped him this way to make him more dangerous and powerful than ever." Aes's eyes shot open, and he turned towards the dragons and their Warriors, "Either way," he said worriedly, "Whatever the reason may be, his mind is poisoning and tried to drag me in with it, into insanity. He would have if I had not pulled out when I did." "You entered his mind?" asked Kyeit surprised, as if not expecting him to do this. "I did," said Aes, "I wanted to try and see if I could delve any secrets from him, or at least figure out how Tenebrae has brought him back to life. For this is magic that has long since been forgotten…not since the Days of Beginning, at the time of the First Dawn, have I seen magic that could bring back the dead. It was so many years ago…all have forgotten it, even Aurum in his vast expanse of knowledge. He knows that magic that powerful, is too dangerous to be passed on…but how Tenebrae found it is beyond me." "What did you find, Master?" asked Adalinda expectantly. "Nothing," said Aes, "Nothing at all. His mind his metal, and his will is stronger yet. His defenses were impossible to break through, not even Aurum could do it, and he is stronger than I or the other Metallic Dragons."

"Alright!" said Alexander as he turned around and scanned the Warriors, "This is what's going to happen. Kanaahn, don't worry about the armor, you wont be needing it. I've come to a decision, and that decision is you wont be able to fight Supri Fothisevi unless you're in the Nature State. But firstly, you'll need to get off your dragons; you won't be riding them just yet. Your first priorities are to evacuate the villagers from the other rings into the palace for safekeeping. Without people in the streets, it will be less tempting for Supri Fothisevi to fire random energy beams into the village. He'll only have you to focus on then." "So what do you want us to do then?" asked Shooter. "You're going to go with Cesaré and his soldiers, and split up to cover different parts of the city. Once everyone is safe within the walls, we'll put you into the Nature State and start the battle." Everyone nodded in unison, and dismounted their dragons, and with their weapons drawn they charged off into the city to help Cesaré and his soldiers. Kanaahn and Shooter split up with some soldiers to try and empty out the fourth ring, where all the villagers lived, while Kyeit and Cecil were emptying out the farm lands, and Arkas went with Arial to the markets. The soldiers were going all throughout the city, running between the palace, and the fourth ring and the soldier's quarters.

While Kanaahn, Cesaré and Shooter were running through the villager's quarter, Kanaahn came across a large, regal building with ornately decorated marble sides. It looked like a palace, and could have been owned by people with lots of money, had it looked livable that is. The house was in complete ruins, blood splattered on the once beautiful marble, and it was charred and tarnished by black soot and shattered windows. The doors hung open on their ruined hinges, and seemed as foreboding, like the mouth of the house, ready to swallow up all who entered. Kanaahn stopped in the middle of what he was doing, and seemed drawn to the house, as he if he had some tie to it. Walking slowly towards it, Kanaahn could feel the house's gravity tugging him in, as if a rope had been tied around his waist, and it was pulling him in. Then, as Kanaahn reached the doorway, he heard a voice shoot behind him, "Hey!" it was Cesaré, "Come back here! Stay away from that house!" Kanaahn snapped out of his trance like state, and quickly returned back to Cesaré. "What do you think you were doing?" asked Cesaré, both of his eyes—scared and normal—boring through Kanaahn's. "I just…I don't know, I saw it, and it just sort of dragged me in," answered Kanaahn, "I don't know." Cesaré looked back at the house, and then to Kanaahn again, "I see…interesting…" he said, "Well, you'd best stay away from it. It's cursed, and worse off it's dangerous. The house is old and rickety, it was destroyed in a fire almost 16 years ago, and it's unstable and could fall in on you at any minute. Stay away from that house, do you understand me?"

"I—I mean," Kanaahn was confused, was Cesaré acting like a father figure to him? I mean…he'd heard Arkas's parent speak to him this way before, but never had Kanaahn had someone speak this way to him. It was flattering, and heart warming at the same time, to think that Cesaré cared about him, as if he was blood. Finally, Kanaahn answered, "Yes sir," he said finally, "I understand." Cesaré nodded gruffly and the two took off towards the streets again, running across the streets, making sure all of the houses were empty, and crying out at the top of their lungs to any stragglers that were left behind. The two of them continued on like this for quite a while, gathering only a few people who hadn't managed to make it out with the first wave. Though Kanaahn was sure there were still a few more, they could not finish their rounds, as a loud roar from Supri Fothisevi shook the entire city. "He's here!" shouted Cesaré as he and Kanaahn and the stragglers ran back to the palace, "We need to prepare for battle! Get to the walls and to your dragons, Alexander will guide you in what to do." "But—" began Kanaahn, trying to protest that there were more people left, but Cesaré cut him off. "Enough! We don't have time for buts!" he shouted, "Now go!"

Kanaahn didn't take a second to tarry, and ran through the wooden doors of the palace and up to the wall. Everyone was there waiting for him, and the dragons were close by, even more on edge than before, scared at the possibility of death, and the so called "aura"  
>that the massive multi-headed dragon was giving off. Alexander turned around, as he did, Geki and Kasu jumped from the walls to the ground below, running towards the outermost walls of the city. "They've gone to reinforce the soldiers at the walls," answered Alexander, though no one had asked a question, "Now, here is what's going to happen. You're each going to enter the Nature State, and you will follow me to attack from the ground. Aes, Valence and Kinokaze will lead your dragons from the air, and attack Supri Fothisevi from above." Aes nodded, then turned towards the other dragons, "All of you!" he shouted as he spread his wings, "Follow me! Remember, keep focused on channeling part of your magic to your partners, and keep the flow constant otherwise they will exit the Nature State, and wont be able to use it again for the remainder of the battle." With that, the dragons took off, the flapping of their giant wings causing the air to beat against everyone's eardrums, and caused massive winds to sweep across the courtyard like a hurricane. After the dust settled, Alexander looked at the Warriors, and with a small smile, he said, "Alright, begin entering the Nature State, remember everything I taught you." Everyone closed their eyes, and placed their hands together, and silently, focused on finding the energy that was coming off of their dragons. They quietly searched, searching for their dragons' minds, and for the energy that lay locked within it.<p>

Finally, they found their dragons minds, and as the two minds fused together as one, everyone's eyes shot open, and they were all in their Nature State. Alexander with his large, blue, muscled body, Arkas in his large wolf like form, drivel dribbling from his fangs; Shooter stood there, with his arm blades and purple tail, looking as intimidating as ever. Kanaahn and Arial had both flicked their wings, and were ready to take off, Arial's birdlike transformation and Kanaahn's demon like one worked well side-by-side. Finally, Cecil and Kyeit's forms were revealed; Kyeit was dragon, with long horns, spikes all the way down her back and her tail, claws on her hands and feet, a protruding face, and scales that covered her body. Cecil, in contrast, grew fox ears and a fox's tail, and her hands became clawed, she seemed to be able to hear and smell a lot, because she was constantly changing her focus to different parts of the castle. Alexander, in a deeper gruffer voice than usual, pointed towards the front gate and shouted, "Lets go! It is time to attack!" He ran off towards the front gate, blue aura began to surround him, and make him look like a comet. Arial and Kanaahn took to the skies, flying above the people below to their destination, while Shooter and Cecil were invisible blurs that shot through the city, from rooftop to rooftop, disappearing for a second and then reappearing in a flash on a rooftop several hundred feet away, pausing only to allow the others to catch up. Arkas had got down on all fours, and with a howl and a snarl, charged behind Alexander, ready to attack at will, while Kyeit ran beside Alexander, her ferocity intensified by the dragon like looks.

In this Nature State, it wasn't hard to reach their goal, the front gates. In fact within a few second they were there, but they did not stop there. Alexander kept roaring through the city at top speed, until finally with a large boom, he tore through the iron portcullis and the large, foot-thick oak doors that served as the city's entrance. The portcullis was warped and destroyed, and the doors flew off their hinges and over the edges of the bridge, landing in the water below. Alexander skidded to a halt at the end of the wooden bridge, leaving burn marks across it. With a loud, earthshaking roar, the Asardaean king shouted, "Attack!" Supri Fothisevi saw the four Warriors and the three Dragon Masters and let loose his own roar, and each of the eight heads reared towards the sky, and let loose hundreds of white balls of pure magical energy that shot up into the air. These white balls showered down upon the open plains hundreds of comets, causing large explosions and craters to dot the grasslands. Arial and Kanaahn maneuvered quickly while in the skies to dodge the energy balls, while the people on the ground, namely Alexander, Arkas and Kyeit just barely managed to dodge the barrage of magic. Cecil and Shooter had not problem dodging the magic, as they were too fast for the magical barrage.

As the group neared Supri Fothisevi, the barrage continued as the magical comets continued to beat down on the ground, and the dragons—who had been flying above the clouds in order to gain the element of surprise—flew down towards the massive beast as well, revealing them selves. The dragons let out roars, Arkas let out a howl, Arial an eagle-like screech, Kyeit and Alexander a mighty roar, and Kanaahn, Cecil and Shooter a charging a scream. The group collided with Supri Fothisevi, and each of them began to battle a different head. With four Warriors and three Dragon Masters each on their own head, the dragons attacked the remaining one, keeping it from unleashing a power energy blast at the city. Arkas, lacking the means to fly, climbed with his massive claws up the legs of Supri Fothisevi towards one of the heads. Arial and Kanaahn split left and right towards separate heads, circling over them like a hawk over prey. Meanwhile, Alex and Kyeit jumped up from the grounds towards their heads, and Cecil and Shooter, with their super speed did the same. Kanaahn flew down towards the head he chose to fight, and flew in spirals around his neck, confusing it. Kanaahn flew up again, soaring above Supri Fothisevi's head, but the beast somehow foresaw this, and moved his head preemptively, cutting Kanaahn off with his gnashed teeth. Kanaahn flew back a few feet, dodging the sharp, seraded teeth of the monster, and flew up a little higher, satisfied that Supri Fothisevi wouldn't catch up with him, but Kanaahn was forced to dodge once more as Supri Fothisevi's horns almost grazed his side.

Kanaahn spun in a circle as he flew past the giant head, he felt the horns catch up with him on the head's second pass, but surprisingly it didn't injure him at all. "_The scales keep you protected, you're lucky you took the form of a suaco vyklade_." Kanaahn almost fell from the sky as he heard the voice of Djall in his head. "A what?" he asked as he dodged a beam from Supri Fothisevi's head. Djall chuckled, "A distant relative of the dragon's," he said, "In our language it means Wind Snake." Kanaahn laughed as a magical beam grazed a few feathers in his left wing, almost causing Kanaahn to spiral down and crash towards the ground; luckily Kanaahn managed to pull back up before he hit the earth. "Not that I don't appreciate the history lesson," said Kanaahn as he began to dart towards Supri Fothisevi's head, his sword at the ready. "But you want to focus?" laughed Djall. Kanaahn nodded, and Djall gave no response, respecting Kanaahn's wish, and understanding how crucial focus was to Kanaahn, even more so now that he had to focus on flying.

Meanwhile, Arkas had managed to claw his way of one of Supri Fothisevi's necks, to the top of his head. The massive dragon, in a blinded rage from not being able to attack Arkas from any viable position, swung his head wildly, smacking his bulky head and horns into the other heads, causing them to roar in anger. Arkas let out a howl, and dug his claws in deeper, hanging onto the dragon's head for his life, and he was very certain not to let go. As soon as the dragon realized the futility of swinging his head to violently and calmed down, Arkas took the chance to jump behind Supri Fothisevi's eyes, and with his thick, sharp claws, dug them into the dragon's large yellow eyes and began to claw away at the soft flesh that composed them. Supri Fothisevi roared with vehemence, as his eyes were torn from their sockets, swinging his head more violently then every, trying to remove Arkas from his head; to little affect, however. Arkas continued, blood pouring from the dragon's former eyes, and gore and blood slick over Arkas's coat, covering his paws, claws and arms to the elbows. Finally, Arkas finished blinding the ancient dragon, and moved on to finish off the head. All Supri Fothisevi's head could do at this point was swing back and forth wildly, like a bull that had been struck by a spear, and roar with an empty intensity. Arkas scaled his way down to the part of Supri Fothisevi's neck connected to his head, still clinging on for dear life. Arkas began to claw at Supri Fothisevi's skin, trying to dig his way through it to the flesh below, to no avail. Arkas roared as he kept digging, trying to break through the rock hard scales that covered Supri Fothisevi like a hide of armor.

Arkas kept going, harder and harder, fiercer and fiercer, his rage building until finally he scratched through the armor and broke into the flesh. The great dragon roared as Arkas dug his way through it's flesh, and Arkas kept digging deeper through the thick, muscly sinew that built up the dragon's neck. Finally, Arkas stopped; realizing that what lay in his way now was a large, white bone that held the cords keeping Supri Fothisevi's neck alive and intact with its body. With a roar, Arkas acted on impulse and grasped his claws tight around the bone, and began to pull on it. Supri Fothisevi roared in protest and pain, swinging his head harder than ever before, while Arkas tore out his spinal cord. Arkas kept pulling, harder and harder, as the tendons and cords that were protected by the bones snapped and warped and broke under the pressure, slowly but surely killing the dragon's head. Finally, Arkas tore out the dragon's bones, and threw them to the ground below. As he did, the head began to collapse, and Arkas jumped, landing with a loud thud into the torn up field below; the dead head landing behind him.

Meanwhile, Alexander was still on the ground, dodging his head's attacks, as the head kept running his teeth towards the ground in an attempt to grasp the king between its teeth. Alexander, however, was too fast for the dragon to get him, and the dragon would end up grasping up large chunks of grass and dirt. The dragon angrily spit the chunks back out, and moved his head fast towards the ground trying to devour the king. Alexander, convinced that he had dizzied the large head long enough, jumped up from his spot on the ground and on top of the horned head. Alexander grasped with all his might onto the horns of the dragon, while the massive beast shook his head with such violence and vehemence that he might have dislocated his own neck were it not for all the muscle and sinew that protected it. As the dragon, pained from the dangerous strain that struggling put on his neck, slowed down his head and halted it, Alexander took control of the opportunity presented. The king, with a roar of bravery, jumped from the dragon's head and grasped his arms tightly around the dragon's maw, and drew the dragon in close to a tight bear hug and jumped down to the ground. The sheer weight of the dragon's head combined with the heavily muscled and transformed king caused the head to dip down towards the ground at great speed. As soon as Alexander's feet dug into the soft, and ruined dirt—which was followed by a loud thud—Alexander began to run, still holding the dragon's maw tight under his arm. He ran at top speed until he was halted. The dragon's neck would not extend anymore, and it became taught. Alexander smiled, and kept tugging on the neck, harder and harder. Supri Fothisevi tried to pull free from the king's grasp, and roar and bite at him, but it was futile, the king's grip was too tight for the dragon. As the dragon struggled, Alexander pulled harder and harder, until finally, with a great roar of effort, the dragon's long neck and head tore right off the body with a violent and sickening roar that emanated from all heads. Alexander swung the flayed head around in the air and threw it straight up, but the sheer weight of the head and neck caused it to flop right back down with a heavy thud. Alexander lifted his head up to the sky, and roared a loud and triumphant roar. His work was done, and the dragon's head was no more.

Meanwhile, Shooter and Cecil were dashing around the field with their great speed, jumping from left and right, alternating directions and crossing paths. Two of the dragon's eight heads were focused on them, each trying to hit a mark, but the marks—Shooter and Cecil—moved to fast to be hit by the dragon's long sharp teeth. The two heads roared in anger every time they missed, and with each miss their attacks became more desperate and less accurate. These two heads' rage was beginning to build, and they would not sit too happy with the thought of missing Cecil and Shooter for much longer. Cecil and Shooter realized this as well, and knew the dragons were going to get more desperate, meaning they might be seeing blasts of energy soon. Cecil and Shooter, with a silent nod of agreement, jumped up in the air, and each landed on one of the two necks of the two heads that were trying to devour them. Each dragon leaned down, angry and annoyed, and attempted to bite into Cecil and Shooter, but in their anger they forgot the two Warriors' speed, and by the time they remembered it was too late. Cecil and Shooter jumped from their position on the dragons' necks and when the two heads clamped their teeth down, they clamped them tight into each other's necks and tore out large chunks of flesh. When the two heads realized what they had done to each other, they let out roars of incomprehensible pain. Blood and bits of loose flesh hit the ground like a landslide, bathing the grass in their gore and turning the green fields red. Cecil and Shooter landed on the bloodied grass, but they did not continue to fight, as the two heads had begun to do their work for them. The two heads his into each other's neck, tearing out large chunks in anger, anger that should have been directed towards Cecil and Shooter. Chunks of flesh and blood rained down on Cecil and Shooter, but they did not cringe or move, instead they watched as the two titans battled it out above. Finally, the battle ended with a final spurt of blood as both dragons bit into each other's necks, clamping down and keeping their jaws there. Then, all of a sudden the two heads froze in place, and their jaws slackened a bit, and Cecil and Shooter ran out of the way darting to opposite sides as the two large heads fell down towards the ground, hitting it with a large thud, causing the large lake of blood and flesh to fly up into the air and fall back down. Two more heads were down, four more to go.

Meanwhile, Kyeit and Arial had spent most of their time dodging magical bursts from the maw of both their heads. The several separate craters that once peppered the ground from the magical blasts had been conjoined into one large crater as the amount of divots in the ground increased. The two Warriors hadn't had a single chance to land a shot on the dragon, because every time they got close another magical blast would have them dodging and scrambling backwards out of firing range. Kyeit and Arial were starting to tire; it was then they knew they would have to resort to another plan. It would be easier with only one head, where Arial could distract it from above, and draw it's attention away from Kyeit, who would launch a physical attack on the head without it noticing. But with two on two, this made this harder; if they attacked one head with the distract and attack plan, the other head would stop Kyeit from attacking, but if they both took on a head each it would be harder to fight the heads, but they'd have a better chance of winning. There was just one problem; the dragonheads were starting to get smarter, and faster too. Each time a head had removed or killed, the other heads appeared to absorb the knowledge and memories of the dying head, allowing them to learn from the other head's mistakes. This was problematic, because the best method for taking down two heads would be using what Cecil and Shooter used, meaning using the two heads to kill each other, but now that they knew better that was impossible to pull off. Kyeit and Arial needed a plan, and fast, because the two heads were starting to get the upper hand. All of a sudden, as if some stroke of luck had passed through, Kyeit had an idea, and using her dragon form's telepathic abilities, she transferred her idea to Arial, sharing the brilliance of her plan with her.

Arial smiled, this was it, the perfect plan they needed they finally had, if this didn't work nothing would. Arial and Kyeit stood side by side, each facing one of the large, snarling, vicious heads. Kyeit's plan was simple, return magical blast for magical blast, as she had just remembered that while in the Nature State, one had the power over a single element, though this required years and years of training to unlock, Kyeit had read cases were Warriors were able to use it without having to go through training to unlock it, only to master it. Kyeit was hoping that this would work; otherwise she would owe Alexander a big apology for why he did not mention this before. Kyeit raised her hands, as did Arial, and Kyeit communicated to Arial what she needed to do. 'Just imagine a black empty space, a nothingness if you will,' she though to Arial with her mind quickly, 'Just imagine any random color, and any random feeling, anything just whatever the first thing comes into mind. Now, trying to allow that color and that feeling you associate with it to wash over you let it drown you and fill you up. Then when you're ready, unleash it like you would unleash any magic. Fast!' Before Kyeit could continue, the two heads sent powerful beams of magical at them, white cylinders of pure white magic and power shooting at Kyeit and Arial at top speed. Kyeit raised her hands and unleashed a powerful blast of flame that just barely countered the magic blast, halting it—with difficulties—in it's place. But Arial wasn't so lucky, and the blast hit her full on, or so it seemed, because several moments later, a large blast of water was holding off the magical blast, pushing it back slowly.

Kyeit let out a soft sigh, grateful that Arial was not hurt; the only thing they had to worry about now was killing these heads, and fast, the elemental control was starting to put it's wear on Kyeit's body. 'Unleash everything you have Arial, we're going to finish these heads off with our powers and theirs combined, hurry!' thought Kyeit in a flash, she needed to end this, otherwise this over use of magic would finish them both. With gritted teeth and pained faces, the two girls forced back the beams slowly but surely with their own. Harder and harder they pushed their bodies in order to try to defeat these dragons. Finally, there was a loud explosion, and Kyeit and Arial released their elements as a huge wave of magic, fire and water forced itself at high speed towards the two heads. The dragon's tried to shield themselves, but they were too late, and when the smoke and steam had finally settled, the two heads and their necks were charred skeletons and bones down to the last few feet of their necks, which instead was a mix of regular scales and muscle, and burned scales and muscle. The bones then collapsed to the ground, falling off the body with loud thuds. Kyeit grabbed Arial, who had collapsed from strain to her body, and dragged her out of the way of the falling bones, and just as she did, the large skull landed where they were previously standing. Kyeit skidded to a stop, stilling holding Arial, and looked up at the large head; it was the size of a red dragon itself, but it did not matter now, because _this_ head could not harm her anymore. Their part was done for now.

Meanwhile, the dragons were busy with their own head, each of them took turns circling the head, and then diving down to attack it. But the head would always retaliate, and defend with a magical blast, or its teeth, or horns, and the dragons would be forced back into circling like vultures once more. They knew they would need to act fast, two dragons were proven to be no match for Supri Fothisevi, and he could easily defend himself against both at the same time. But perhaps three or four at a time may just do. Aes communicated his plan to the others through his mind, and commanded Valence and Kinokaze to fly with him; the three of them would lead the swooping attack, while the others would slowly provide back up, and would fly in one by one for an attack. The plan would be simple, overwhelm the dragonhead bit by bit, and when it finally cannot handle any more attackers, destroy it. All of the dragons picked up their speed, and began to spin faster and faster in the air, and then Valence, Kinokaze and Aes dived straight towards the dragon's head, and together, latched on to his large, thick neck and began to do battle with it's fanged and horned head. Supri Fothisevi had little trouble fighting them off, but didn't see the other dragons beginning to swoop in for an attack as well. Risasi was the first to dive in, spinning in a corkscrew maneuver as he closed in on the dragon's throat, as he passed by the dragon's neck he extended his claws, turned perpendicular to the ground, and slashed the dragon across his neck. Adalinda, who dived down straight, and vertically, cut Supri Fothisevi across the neck with such accuracy and speed that the wound did not become apparent until after she was airborne again followed Risasi.

Supri Fothisevi roared in pain, but continued to fight off the swarming Metallic Dragons. Fyete and Djall flew in next, coming in at the same time in perpendicular angles, forming an X with their movement patterns. They dived in fast, parallel to Supri Fothisevi's massive, muscled neck, and the as they approached it, slashed mirrored diagonal gashes into the dragon's neck. The dragon roared louder, and began to make a move for Fyete and Djall, causing him to forget about the Metallic Dragons, who seized the opportunity provided, and doubled their attack strength, biting into Supri Fothisevi's neck. Supri Fothisevi roared in pain and anger, but was powerless to fight back, as the other dragons jumped onto his neck, and began to sink their claws and teeth into his flesh, tearing out large chunks, until the dragons roars shook even the city of Malatrion from the plains. The dragons continued to tear out large chunks of flesh and sinew from the dragon until Risasi bit into a major vein and tendon, and tore them right out of the dragon's body. The massive dragon's roars ceased, and the life slowly left the head, and then with a massive crash, the head and neck hit the ground, dead in its own blood. The dragons flew from the neck before it collapsed, and let out a roar of triumph, and waited for the last of the heads to fall.

This final head belonged to Kanaahn, who had enlisted the help of the Tsuru siblings, Kasu and Geki, in destroying the head. All three of them had tired tactic after tactic, but just as it seemed they were going to work, and gain the upper hand and victory, someone else had defeated a head, causing the head to absorb the dying head's knowledge, making Kanaahn's plan inferior. Kanaahn was desperate, and by now was willing to try anything. Currently he was flying around the dragon's head, trying to dizzy it, but the dragon wasn't falling for it. Down on the ground, Geki drew three arrows from his quiver. They glowed gold in the sunlight, and knocked them in his bow, and then drew them back. He looked down his arm as he touched the drawstring to his lips, and then released the arrows. They flew through the air with a static spark, and zoomed towards the large dragon's head. They curved upwards as they began to take in electric energy, and turned into lightning bolts. But Supri Fothisevi was too fast, and used a magical blast to destroy the arrows, and then attacked the ground where Geki was. Luckily the Tsuru boy was too fast for the dragon, and moved back and out of the way. Kanaahn took the advantage, and flew down with his sword drawn. He roared for battle, and then began to attack Supri Fothisevi, hoping to take out his eyes if anything; but just as he moved in for the attack, the dragon raised his head, and blasted magic at Kanaahn. Kanaahn dodged, but just barely, and grazed his wing against the magical blast, which caused him to plummet towards the ground. Kanaahn fell, and as he did, Supri Fothisevi swung his horned head, and slashed Kanaahn across the back as he fell.

Kanaahn screamed in pain as the horn slashed him deep across his spine and things started to go fuzzy; he could feel the Nature State wear off him, as the scales receded until his skin returned, and his wings began to retreat back into his body. Kanaahn could feel his claws and fangs and forked tongue also disappear, he was slipping out of Nature State,, and what was worse was even he if he managed to survive this fall, he wouldn't be able to reenter the Nature State for a long time, leaving him powerless to fight. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down as he heard a loud roar, but not from Supri Fothisevi, but from Djall. Djall had seen Kanaahn's distress, and charged a flight towards Supri Fothisevi. Supri Fothisevi sent out several magical blasts, which Djall avoided, and returned a large blast from his mouth. "Jedark!" he shouted, blasting a sound wave imbued with magical powers toward the massive dragon's head. Supri Fothisevi roared back, "Jedark!" he called, returning the shout, but ten times stronger than Djall's. Djall buckled in mid air, and flapped his wings as hard as he could as to not go flying back. As the shout passed him, Djall doubled his speed and flew towards Supri Fothisevi, but he miscalculated a dodge from another magical blast, when all of a sudden Supri Fothisevi's jaws came out of nowhere, and clamped themselves tight around Djalls neck. The red dragon's fangs pierced through Djall's armor like butter, and almost snapped Djall's neck. Djall let out a weakened roar, and Supri Fothisevi dug his teeth deeper into Djall's neck, and then released him, letting him fall from his mouth and smashing painfully into the ground. Kanaahn saw this, and felt the rage burn through him, and somehow, by some miracle, he felt magic and power burn through him. Kanaahn let out an earth shattering roar, which made even Supri Fothisevi recoil in fear, and making his roars look like a mouse's squeak.

Kanaahn had reentered the Nature State, and in his newfound Nature State, sent out a mental message to Geki and Kasu, telling them his newfound plan. Geki pulled two arrows on Kanaahn's command, and readied them, prepared to let them fly at Kanaahn's orders. Kasu then ran towards Supri Fothisevi, dodging attack after attack of his, and then swung her red gourd from her shoulder. She jumped into the air, and then opened the cork of it, letting a thick purple gas fall over Supri Fothisevi, Kasu had done it. She had released her dreaming magic, and when Supri Fothisevi inhaled the gas, he had become ensnared in his own dreams and fantasies. The dragon's eyes glazed over, and were overtaken with a hazy look; this was Kanaahn's moment to strike. Kanaahn nodded down to Geki, and then flew top speed toward the dragon, with his sword at the ready. Geki released the lightning arrows, and shot them towards the dragon, once more aiming for the eyes. Finally the arrows hit their mark, piercing Supri Fothisevi's eyes, and blinding him permanently. This caused the dragon to snap from his dreaming state; luckily his blindness caused him to swing his head around violently. Kanaahn reached Supri Fothisevi, and raised his sword high above his head, and with a loud shout, folded in his wings, and dropped down vertically to the ground. Kanaahn could feel the sword cut through Supri Fothisevi's maw, and then quickly he channeled magic through his blade to elongate it, and slice through the entire neck, as Kanaahn slid down further and further, bifurcating the dragon's head and neck perfectly. Kanaahn pulled back his sword as he reached the base of the neck, and then landed neatly on the ground as the two sides of the head fell to either side, dead, and seeping blood.

Kanaahn landed, and his rage began to dissipate, and then he remembered Djall and his mind instantly fixated on his dragon and nothing else. Kanaahn dashed towards Djall, and knelt down next to his dragon, touching his wounded neck; Kanaahn could see the blood seep from the wounds, which were covered in punctured, twisted metal. Kanaahn held back tears as the rest of dragons, Warriors, and Dragon Masters gathered around him and his wounded dragon. Kanaahn called out to Djall, but the dragon didn't respond, and he couldn't feel the dragon's breathing anymore. "He _must_ still be alive," said Kanaahn to the group, "I'm in the Nature State still, I have to be drawing on his magic…don't I?" Aes looked down at Kanaahn with a half impressed, half grieving look, "Well, it is said that when a Dragon Warrior is in danger he can unconsciously draw upon the power of the Earth, like a dragon does." Said the Metallic Dragon, "He takes in as much magic as he needs, and uses it however he needs, completely unaware of how or where he got this new magic from." Kanaahn remained silent, and looked over at everyone else, and at the dragons, hoping there was something that there could be done, but no one gave him an answer. "If I can use the magic to reenter the magic state and break the rules, I can use this Earth magic to heal Djall," said Kanaahn, "Arial what's the spell for healing?" "Kanaahn, are you sure you want to do this?" asked Arial, "You could get hurt, it might not work—" "It will work," interrupted Kanaahn, "I'll make sure it does." Arial sighed and nodded, "Irisv," she said, "It's Irisv."

Kanaahn nodded, and walked towards Djall and tore off his armor, then placed his hands on the dragon's mangled neck, and then repeated the word, "Irisv", and his hands began to glow with a bluish hue. Kanaahn began to search in his mind for the hum of the Earth, but he could find nothing, even though he was still connected to the Earth, and it fed him magic to keep him in the Nature State, he was still not able to hear its hum. He focused harder, and harder, still trying to find it, but there was nothing, but Kanaahn was not going to give up. Aes looked over at the other dragons, knowing that Kanaahn was in need of their help, and with unison nods, they connected their minds to Kanaahn. Through the dragons, Kanaahn was able to hear the hum of the Earth much easier, and was able to channel much more magic than he thought possible. The hue around Kanaahn's hands doubled in brightness and potency, and he could feel the magic's strength pulsate through his palms. He was ready. Kanaahn lowered his hands to Djalls neck, and in a bright flash of white light, and a high pitched screech, the dragon's neck was healed. Kanaahn lowered his hands, and the bluish hue died away, and he exited the Nature State, loosing contact with the humming Earth and its magic. Kanaahn ran around to Djall's head, and looked into the dragon's still open eyes, hoping he would spring to life any second. One minute, two minutes, three minutes, four…Kanaahn waited, and waited, hoping that something would happen. Kanaahn's heart sank; Djall was dead, Kanaahn's dragon was dead and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. Then, suddenly, a faint voice called out to Kanaahn, calling his name, "Kanaahn…" said the voice, "Kanaahn…you did it." Kanaahn looked up hopefully, and smiled as he saw he was staring into the alive and fully animated face of Djall, and overcome with happiness, Kanaahn threw his arms around the dragon, and hugged his neck. "Thank god your alive," he said, "I don't think I could've made it without you." "Congratulations, Warriors," said Aes suddenly, "You have defeated Supri Fothisevi, and saved Asardaea, Malatrion, and all her people, we are eternally in your debt." Aes, Geki, Kasu, Alexander, Kyeit, Cecil, Kinokaze and Valence got down on one knee, and bowed their heads to the Dragon Warriors and their dragons. "We bow to you, Heroes of the Continent, and Dragon Warriors," they all said in unison, "Warrior Kanaahn Saatus and Djall, Warrior Shooter Maxim and Risasi, Warrior Arial Gainsborough and Adalinda, Warrior Arkas Nazzer and Fyete," they said honorably, "We bow to you, and are forever in your debt. Thank you, from us, from the people, and from the Earth. Thank you."


End file.
